Sublime
by YouseiTeikoku8
Summary: Indulged by his Father's stories of his youth at Tootsuki, Yukihira Souma developed an amazing LOVE for cooking. Blessed with extraordinary talent surpassing his Father, Souma is ready to walk the stormy path that Jouichirou once took as he set his foot on Tootsuki for the first time. Of course, with a brilliant smile on his face. Inspired by volume 23, chapter 199 of the manga.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Standing in front of the gate of the notorious Tootsuki academy, the ordinary-looking red-haired boy couldn't help but be awed by the sight in front of him. At tremendous height, the campus ground towered into the sky intimidatingly, giving a sense of superiority that would impress anyone fortunate enough to witness it. With that magnificent first impression, his expectation from the supposedly prestigious academy increased. With that, he could help but smirk in excitement.

"Now… What great challenges await me next?" He pondered as he took the first step inside.

Not unexpectedly, he saw a lot of fancy-dressed people on his way in. It looked like they were also transfer applicant like himself. As most of them only showed him condescending looks, he didn't bother to try to hold a conversation with them. He prefers to let his cooking talk rather than his mouth anyway when it comes to his skills as a chef.

As he entered the exam room, he tried his best to wipe his feeling of euphoria. After all, to perform at his best, he must act professionally. But he found it difficult to do so. Even after a few weeks, he couldn't wash completely his sense of fulfillment as the goal that he had fought for years was finally achieved.

/

*Flashback*

"Enjoy." A middle aged man known as Yukihira Jouichirou beckoned.

"Oagari yo!" Souma cheerfully said next.

In front of them were two plates of Chinese fried rice, made by each of them respectively. On the opposite end of the table, Kurase Mayumi smiled in bliss with a duck spoon in hand as she ogled the two captivating dishes in front of her. After admiring the looks and savoring the smell, she proceeded to took a bite from the older man's dish. As she did so, she felt amazing that she tried to restrain a violent reaction and toned it down to mild fidgeting and a cute moan instead. Even in one bite, she was reminded how great Shokujidokoro Yukihira really was. It was on a whole other level than the other restaurants she had ever been. Even when she went to a fancy restaurant that one time, it still couldn't beat Yukihira's food. And the price is also affordable. That's why she never bothered to go to fancy restaurants ever again.

After savoring the deliciousness of the single bite, Mayu turned her eyes to the next dish. From both the appearance and smell, it wasn't behind the first one. But the taste was ultimately the deciding factor. With that, she took a spoonful and tasted it delicately. As she took the young boy's cooking into her mouth, she gasped and then froze in silence for about three seconds before she remembered to chew her food and swallowed.

After she tasted both sides, it was time to make her decision. As she put her hand on her chin and posed like a historical philosopher contemplating on the meaning of life, excitement was rising from the crowd behind her.

"Hey, do you think that this is the day whe-" A boy asked excitedly.

"Shh, Kurase-san is thinking!" His friend reprimanded him.

The tension that Souma felt was comparable to that from every single person in the crowd. Jouichirou, whose skills was considered legendary, could tell easily between Yukihira-level disgusting food, really bad food, bad food, average food, good food, extremely good food, Tootsuki-level food, and finally elite-ten-level food. He was proud to say that he never held back or went easy on his son. His own Chinese fried rice in front of him was easily elite-ten-level. And so, when the girl took a first bite of his son's cooking, Jouichirou knew instantly that he had lost.

Jouichirou smiled slightly. To be honest, he was extremely proud of his son. Since he was three, Souma already started holding the knife. It was incredible to see a child who couldn't even speak fluently yet had such a passion for cooking. And that was it, the very thing that allowed his son to defeat him that day, the one thing that even Jouichirou himself didn't have. That passion of cooking.

Most people would cook with many motives. To earn money, to be famous, to be recognized, to make people happy with their food, to express themselves, to challenge themselves, to develop their already innate talent, and many more. But Souma was different. He loves to cook for the sake of cooking. Of course he cared about the people who eat his food, but when he started cooking, he tuned out the outside world and focused primarily on his cooking.

Souma is always happiest when he's cooking. It was heartwarming to see Souma cook. He would smile gently throughout the whole process while never faltering even one second. He would handle each of his ingredients with love. That's right, love. No one would understand until they see it for themselves. There's no other literate way to describe how Souma cared for his ingredients. And after he do every preparations and every processes acutely, he would plate his food with a huge smile. He would carefully measure the portion and if there're garnishes, he would arrange them exquisitely with a satisfied look. And when he finally finish, he would serve the food proudly. Souma never took his own cooking lightly. To him, every single dish that he had made is a masterpiece. Even including the midnight snacks that he cooked drowsily.

"This one" Kurase Mayumi said as she pointed to her left.

For one second, the room was completely silent. And then, a huge roar of cheers erupted from the crowd. It was so hyped that their neighbors from the nearby shops came rushing and started ask what was going on. After they were informed of young Souma's victory, they would join the crowd and contribute their own cheers.

The crowd that was mainly Souma's friends from school, their neighboring shop owners, and regulars of Shokujidokoro Yukihira. They all shared one thing, they all had eaten in the restaurant more times than they could count. To them, Souma's journey to defeat his father was a heartfelt goal. They could feel it. Souma's passion, Souma's effort, and Souma's improvements. They had tasted firsthand how Souma's cooking evolved little by little and empathize on his arduous journey as if it was their own. And eventually, it led to that very moment. Of course they felt joy, and of course they would cheer for the young boy, knowing that all his tremendous effort had finally bore fruit and all of his work was not in vain.

Meanwhile, Souma could only gape and stared dumbly at the crowd in front of him. He had been so accustomed to losing against his old man that winning simply didn't cross his mind. Unconsciously, tears starting to flow from his eyes. While the cheering continued in the background, his father turned his gaze upon his son. Then he smiled and silently mouthed "Good job." to him, snapping Souma out of his stupor. Quickly, Souma wiped his eyes with his sleeve and tried to hide the fact that he had been crying.

"Yosh, to celebrate Souma's first victory after 488 defeats, let's party! Dinner is on the house!" Jouichirou shouted suddenly.

The cheering got louder at the announcement. Throughout the night, Souma got more congratulations than he could remember. He happily helped his father cook for his friends and Yukihira's regular customers. The party went until late night, but the students' parent didn't scold their children and understood immediately after their children explained why they were so late. After all, they were regulars of Yukihira themselves. Overall, it was one of the happiest moment in Souma's life.

After the party, when everyone had already gone home and the shop was closed, Jouichirou beckoned his son over to him as he sat on a chair. Souma sat on the chair next to his dad and knew immediately that he was going to say something serious. So, he decided to say his piece before his father's.

"Pops… You know, I'm really grateful for all your teachings and guidance all these years. What I can do now… It's all thanks to you. So thank you very much!" He bowed sincerely.

"It's my pleasure, Souma. As your father, I'm proud of you. But remember this always! Even though you have incredible skill, never get arrogant! Arrogance will ultimately be a chef's downfall no matter how great he/she is."

"I understand. I love cooking anyway. So no matter who it is, if they share the same passion for cooking as I do, I will respect them no matter how good or how bad their skills are. And if I can do something to help them to improve, I will gladly do so." Souma declared as he raised his head.

Jouichirou smiled satisfactorily at his son's ready response.

"Just keep being that way and you'll be fine."

Souma offered a smile of his own at that before moving onward. He started to wear a serious face and prepared himself. His old man rarely does talk about something seriously with him. But when he does, it's usually something pretty big. Like 'We're moving to Paris tomorrow" kind of big. He knew his father after all. So he was familiar with how impulsive he could be sometimes. A trait that was passed down to him, regrettably.

"I'm going to close the restaurant for two to three years."

'Yappari…' Souma thought inwardly.

"A friend of mine asked me some favors, so I'm going abroad tomorrow."

Souma sighed deeply. He would be lying if he says that he was fine with his father always pulling these kind of stuffs. But it wasn't totally unexpected, so he guessed he could forgive his father. From the timing, he could already guess that it was going to be something like that. It was almost time anyway… For him to enter high school.

"So it's my time, isn't it?" Souma asked although he already knew the answer.

"Indeed. Go to Tootsuki, Souma! Claim the first seat that I never had!"

*Flashback Ends*

/

Wiping the smirk of his face, Souma concentrated on getting his euphoria down. It was nearly the time for his transfer exam. Like his father had imprinted into him, he should never be arrogant. He was going to put his best effort on this test. Although he was quite confident that he would pass, he was also aware that being overconfident was never good. He must not flunk the test. After all, there's somebody he needed to surprise at Tootsuki. He smirked as he thought of that person.

Suddenly, the back door of the room opened and the other applicants around him quietened immediately as the person who would be the examiner walked in. A girl with a long blonde hair along with another girl with short bubblegum hair entered. With just one look, Souma could tell who the examiner was. Erina Nakiri. God's Tounge. Her name was already quite legendary in the culinary world, that there was no need to explain it any further. And it appeared that the other people in the room were also aware of that.

"Hisako, what is the transfer exam protocol?" She asked haughtily.

"Hai, Erina-sama. The transfer applicant is required to have an interview in a group of tens before proceeding into three cooking practicum where they-"

"How boring…" She dismissed the whole test.

She let her eyes wander over the pantry. And after randomly deciding, she casually picked up an egg and showed it into the entire room.

"Make me one dish with egg as the main ingredient. If it pleases my palate, you will pass. On that note, I'll graciously give you one minute to rescind your transfer." She declared simply.

After that, the crowd of transfer applicant reacted violently. They all stampeded into the exit as a mob as if they were scrambling for their life. Well, in a sense, that's not entirely incorrect. After all, if Nakiri Erina was to reject their cooking, their culinary career would be as good as dead.

Looking around him, Souma whistled in awe as it seemed that he was the only examinee left. Meanwhile, Nakiri Erina was about to go back to her room when she heard a whistling. Her head turned immediately upon the only applicant left in the room. Red hair, low-class restaurant chef uniform, casual posture. Definitely a plebian with no chance of passing. Why did he even bother to stay? But before Erina could comment to further intimidate him, he beat her to it.

"So, may I start cooking, examiner-san?"

However, different than his previous aura, he stared at her right at the eyes and spoke with a clear, professional tone. If he was to make some stupid comment or act impolitely, she would definitely be angered. However, when faced with a professional attitude, although she knew it was for naught as he couldn't possibly pass, but she had the obligation to return the professional attitude and do her job professionally as well.

"You may. Your time is 30 minutes."

Usually, a cooking practicum would be given at least 60 minute as the time limit. However, she wanted to get it over with. And on the impossibly miniscule off-chance that he actually had some talent, it was still enough to whip up a decent dish. So she wasn't being unfair, albeit not exactly being fair either.

As the boy began to prepare his ingredients, Erina observed him skeptically. Her attendant, Arato Hisako, had an equally low expectation of the boy. The boy seemed to think for a moment and started to choose his ingredients. He was slow. It took him almost five minutes to fully choose out his ingredients and to think of what he was going to make. That's one sixth of his whole time. If it was Erina, she could do it in just a few seconds. Well, what could she expect of a plebian diner brat?

But when he started cooking… The two girls were entranced. They were captivated immediately. In her entire life, she had never, EVER, EVEN ONCE, witnessed such cooking. It didn't seem like he was cooking at all. It resembled more of making love to be exact. Although that comparison seemed absurd, but if one witnesses his cooking by oneself, one will certainly understand. There was no other word except 'love' to describe how intimate he seemed to interact with his own cooking.

Too caught up on watching him. Erina didn't really pay attention to what he was cooking. For instance, she was too hypnotized with how he cut his vegetables swiftly but also with much love that she didn't even notice what the vegetables actually were. Although she noticed that he seemed to grab a lot of spices as ingredients. So when he finally plated his dish and presented it in front of her, it was a surprise that snapped her out of her stupor.

Except that he didn't place only one plate. He made three identical plates and put it in front of her. But before she decided to ask on the reasoning for the abundant number of plates, she was even more shocked to see that he had served omelets. That's right, PLAIN omelets in front of her. If it wasn't because of the earlier performance, she would smash the plates unto the ground. But she could tell that he was not kidding around or joking with her.

"Yukihira-style curry omelets. Oagari yo!" He smirked confidently.

"Curry you said… Wait, before that, please explain why there are three plates!"

"Well, I took the courtesy of cooking for secretary-san as well." He eyed at Hisako, making her blush a little at the unfamiliarity of getting attention.

"As for the third plate, it's for the curious-looking ojii-san over there." He said, pointing behind him at the slightly ajar door.

Suddenly, a voice that Erina knew well boomed in laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

An intimidating-looking bulky old man appeared from the door, wearing a traditional Japanese wear. He was smiling widely and it was clear that he was impressed.

"ojii-sama? What are you doing here?" Erina was clearly startled. And judging by her expression, Hisako was also unaware that the director of Tootsuki had been watching.

Unlike the two of them, Souma had already noticed the old man's presence pretty much from the start. Shortly after the mob evacuated the room, he started to notice the Food Demon Lord's presence. It didn't deter him in the slightest. If anything, it only made the challenge more interesting. Meanwhile, ignoring Erina's inquiry, the mighty director walked toward the dishes calmly and stared at Souma with unabashed interest.

"I just had a gut feeling, Erina. Now, Yukihira Souma, is it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Let us have a taste then?" Senzaemon took his place in front one of the plates.

Erina and Hisako were unable to act accordingly for a few seconds until the surprise factor from the director's presence finally receded. Senzaemon let the two girls compose themselves in silence. Specifically, he let Erina took the first action. It took them a few seconds, but eventually, they were able to resume a professional attitude.

Erina brought her spoon upon the insultingly plain looking omelet, intending to cut a small piece. But then she remembered something. 'Curry omelet he said? Does that mean…' With that thought, she decided to slice the omelets right at the middle in two with her spoon. When she made that sharp gesture, a phenomenon that cannot be described by anything but amazing happened. The most appropriate term to describe it would be what you call an aroma bomb.

Abruptly and mind-blowingly, the strong scent filled the room explosively. It was so powerful that Erina unknowingly took a small step back. Erina was by no mean a stranger to curry. She had tasted lots of different foods from different regions of the world, and curry was not excluded. Thus, she was forced to admit that the smell of the curry in front of her was on par with the best ones that she had before.

Gulping, she filled took a spoonful of the curry-doused egg and brought it closer to her mouth. The closer it gets, the more overpowering the aroma becomes. She would never admit it a lot. But she was nervous… For the first time in forever, Nakiri Erina was nervous. She had tasted numerous of high quality food from the finest chefs around the globe. But it was the first time she was that nervous, in front of a low-class plebian no less. She couldn't explain it, but there's a sense of familiarity in the red-haired commoner. It was as if… She had met him before? But it was impossible. She would certainly remember if she had.

Erina put the spoonful into her mouth. Unprepared for what's to come, she nearly jumped as she was immediately assaulted by the taste. With great effort, she managed to tone it down to a subtle squirm. Trying her best to appear nonchalant, she savored the taste for a few seconds before chewing and swallowing.

The usually sharp-tongued critic was speechless. She suddenly found the pattern of the kitchen floor very interesting and refused to meet the calm golden eyes of the red-haired chef. As if contemplating, she stood motionless for a full minute.

Naturally, the director didn't even react. The examinee was also surprisingly calm, waiting patiently for her to say something without signifying impatience or anxiety. Perhaps it was Hisako who was most concerned. Even with years of serving Erina in her belt, she had never seen Erina act like that. She didn't know what to make of that, and grew more anxious by the passing tens of second. Unable to bear the tense silence, she warily addressed Erina.

"Erina-sama? Are you alright?"

But Erina didn't react. For one second, Hisako grew scared, thinking that she had overstepped her boundary and said something unnecessarily. But Erina finally moved a few seconds after that. She calmly walked in front of Souma and looked at him grudgingly. She was clenching her fist very hard, visibly trembling badly. Then, with great difficulty, she managed to force herself to bow down humbly to the chef in front of her.

"ERINA-SAMA!" It was Hisako who reacted most violently.

Hisako was beyond scandalized. To think that the great Nakiri Erina would bow down to a diner brat is beyond absurd. Yet, there she was. Hisako was at lost. For many years, she had succeeded in serving Erina-sama the best she could and she prided herself in her ability to act accordingly to any situation to any problem that she may face. But felt that she failed badly that day. Even though it may seem unrelated to Hisako if you look at the event objectively, she couldn't help but feel that she royally screwed up. But Erina acted as if she didn't hear Hisako's exclamation.

"Yukihira Souma… I apologize. I have mistakenly judged your value as a chef with prejudice."

It took a lot out of Erina to do just that. Even when she forced the words out, she was trembling. Maybe it was because she was not accustomed with apologizing. She had lived a sheltered life after all. And even when she was in custody of… that man… She was never required to apologize. That man didn't care whether she was sorry or not for her mistakes. As long as she never repeats it again and receive her punishment obediently. After learning that, she never bothered to say sorry anymore. She would keep her silence and make a careful self-note of her mistake every time it happens.

"Nakiri-san. Please, raise your head. You don't need to bow or apologize to me."

Erina stood up waveringly and he was quick to grab her hand and steady her. Unknowingly to her, tears had started to flow from her eyes. After all, it was a very humbling experience for her. All along, she had unconsciously let her talent go to her head. Somewhere along the way, she had stagnated, a term usually used for veteran chefs with years of experience. But it seemed, all her amazing advances had also brought her to stagnation faster. She was humbled with that simple curry omelet. As she looked up to the person supporting her with red puffy eyes, she was greeted by a brilliant smile, one that she wouldn't forget in her entire life. For a second, she swore she could see the visage of her idol's smile over the boy's. 'Could it be that this boy is…'

Meanwhile, Hisako was in a shock. To see Erina-sama react so strongly, she didn't have any choice left for her next action. So naturally, she also tasted the innocent looking omelet on her own plate. Incidentally, the intimidating-looking old man also happened to taste his share. When she tasted it, her knees suddenly felt weak and she buckled into a kneeling position on the floor. At the same time, Nakiri Senzaemon let out a powerful exclaim and his clothes were stripped completely save for his underwear, showing the bulging muscles of his entire body, followed by a booming laughter that seemingly shook the entire building.

Hisako looked forward at the gently smiling boy who was consoling her crying mistress tenderly. The innocent looking boy who she had dismissed as some unworthy commoner half an hour ago. And Hisako felt fear… It was mixed with unparalleled awe. But the fear was still predominant. With wide eyes and violent shivering, she was paralyzed kneeling on the floor.

'Yukihira Souma… Just who in the world are you?'

*Flashback Ends*

/

 **Few things you might want to know about the story :**

 **1\. Souma is OP (while the manga focuses on his development together with the people around here, the Souma in this story is already quite developed and will bring more changes to Tootsuki with his existance).  
2\. The pairing will be Souma/Alice. Secondary pairings... undecided, but not out of question.  
3\. This is minor, but i should mention that any '** **ō' will written as 'ou' (e.g. Souma) and any 'ū' will be written as 'uu' (e.g. Yuuki). This is mainly because of my laziness, it's quite a pain to use those characters.  
4\. Another minor thing, I will be using the Japanese naming system with family name before the first name.  
5\. This story will not follow canon that closely. After the autumn election, it will stray. But I'm not sure yet how much.  
6\. This story is inspired by chapter 199 of the manga. And yes,I keep up with the manga. So I might unintentionally reveal some spoilers.  
7\. Originally, i use '/' as the line break. Due to some bugs, fanfiction could only read the '/' after I upload it. And due to my laziness yet again, it will stay that way probably for the rest of the story.**

 **Few things you might want to know about the author :**

 **1\. I'm a male university student.  
2\. I won't update consistently. It might be fast or slow depending on circumstances.  
3\. I'm the type that writes for my own enjoyment. If you can enjoy my writing as well, that's great. But if you don't, you're free to flame or criticize, or do anything really. Like I said, I mainly write for myself.  
4\. I'm not a huge fan of lengthy author note. So don't worry, you probably won't find any in the next chapters. Unless something unexpected happens.  
5\. Oh yeah, by the way, English is not my first or native language. So of course I will appreciate anyone pointing out my mistakes.  
**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It wasn't a surprise for Souma when he suddenly received a letter bearing Tootsuki's seal. It has been some time after he took that exam. At that moment, both his examiner and her assistant were quite shaken. So after the tasting, he was left to converse with the director. They talked about mundane stuffs. It seemed that the director knew his old man. And despite Senzaemon's intimidating posture, Souma found him to be a really nice guy who's easy to get along with.

Because of that, Souma totally forgot about his own result. But if he was asked whether he was confident that he would pass, he would say of course. It wasn't arrogance in his mind, it was confidence. Although being over-confident is never good… So at the moment, Souma was limiting himself to be confident that he was going to accepted, but not too confident of taking the top spot at Tootsuki that easily.

Thus, he wasn't surprised when he saw the large green stamp saying 'PASS' on the content of his letter. He allowed himself a little smile of triumph. He was going to take Tootsuki by storm. Tootsuki wouldn't know what it's going to face. But first… He had to finish the dishes first. Souma sighed tiredly. After the dinner rush that night, he was left with quite a lot of work. And since his pops had already departed for New York, he was even more short-handed. The original plan was to close the shop right after Jouichiro left. But Souma had been given the trust to run the restaurant on his own until Tootsuki's opening ceremony. It was quite tiring, but also satisfying. Either way… He must get back to the dishes… That's right, dishes…

/

The opening ceremony was boring. At least according to Souma. Why? The main reason was because he couldn't see anything. He was forced to wait in the backstage tent until it was his turn to give a speech. The only interesting part of the ceremony was the director's somewhat charismatic speech.

"Even Nakiri's speech was boring…" He mumbled tiredly.

Well, Nakiri Erina was a very strict woman after all. So her speech was a perfect rendition of a disciplinary enforcement seminary. And it seemed the majority of the students was more interested in her legendary God's Tongue and reputation rather than the content of her speech. So most of them gossiped about Erina instead of listening.

When it was finally his turn, Souma was beyond delighted. It wasn't because of the speech that he was going to deliver, but it was rather because he was given the chance to finally escape boredom. So he calmly made his way to the podium and took his place in front of the microphone. He saw a sea of students in front of him. It seemed that there were quite a lot of students. If he hadn't misheard, about 700 or so this year. But by second year, it was a promise that only about one-tenth will still remain. So, it wasn't strange that Tootsuki was famous for its notorious expulsion rate.

"Hey is that him? The sole transfer student to pass out of hundreds of applicants?"

"Wow, really? I heard he passed with God's Tongue as his examiner."

"Do you think it's a fluke? Or is he that good?"

Hmm... It looked like Souma was already quite famous. It was a good thing that he wasn't the naïve boy he had been when he was a few years younger. The old him would perhaps declare he's going to take the top spot in Tootsuki or something foolish like that. He smirked a little at that thought. But he was already more mature than that. He wouldn't declare he's going for the top spot. But instead, his own cooking will declare that he DESERVED the top spot. At least that's where he's planning to aim.

"Good morning, eveRyoune. My name is Yuukihira Souma. To be honest, I didn't expect to be able to stand here. But now that I'm here… I'm actually just an amateur chef from a downtown diner with no particular innate talent or anything that spectacular. But I'm going to do my best here like I have been doing for my customers. So I hope I can get along with you guys."

He bowed slightly towards the audience politely. It seemed that the excitement in the crowd eased almost entirely after he did so.

"Heh, so it was just a rumor after all."

"I knew it. There's just no way that a commoner like him can impress God's Tongue."

"But he seems like a pretty nice guy…"

"Yeah, but he won't last long anyway. He'll probably be expelled in the first few months."

"Haha, that's true. Poor guy, but it just can't be helped, right?"

Souma was satisfied. It was going the way he expected it to. And it was time for the grand closing of the speech. He was curious… How would his audience react? He wondered with excitement.

"And I would like to say one last thing before I end this speech."

When he declared that, the whispers and conversations quietened considerably.

"To every one of Tootsuki's student here, even senpai-tachi, if anyone would like to challenge me to a Shokugeki, I promise you that I will accept it anytime I'm available. After all, I'm not the type that backs down from a challenge. And so, with that note, good day eveRyoune."

As Souma left the podium, he heard quite a lot of mixed opinions about his declaration. Some positive, some negative. But overall, he felt it was a success. Amongst the ones he heard, there were a few people interested in challenging him and seeing what he is made of. Exactly like he wanted.

/

Roland Chapelle, the chef that never smiles, the chief of Tootsuki's French culinary division. That formidable man happened to be Souma's lecturer for that day's cooking practicum. True to his reputation, Chapelle-sensei appeared strict and intimidating. Although not to the level of the director, but his glare is enough to silence most students instantly. At that moment, he was frowning at his new batch of students, as if he was skeptical that many will pass his class.

"Greetings, students. Before we begin, I would like to tell you that I don't accept half-hearted cooking in my class. So it's either an A or E rating if you don't pass. Also, you will be cooking as a pair in my class. We, the board of lecturers, have decided on your pairings based on your skill assessments. So basically, based on your performance in your junior high, or your performance in the transfer exam if you had one."

As he said the last sentence, the blond veteran chef stared briefly at Souma with interest. At that moment, Souma realized that the people who think negatively of him were considerable more than the people who think he was alright. When he was being paid extra attention, most people in the room glared at him with either jealousy or resentment. He sighed tiredly. Well, there's nothing he could do about that. He'll just have to ignore them. It wouldn't be too hard actually. He didn't really care what they thought after all.

After that Chapelle-sensei began to list of the names of the students in a pair. It went on for about five minutes. Souma didn't really pay any attention to it, only a little in case his name is called.

"Kurokiba Ryou and Tadokoro Megumi!"

At that announcement, he noticed that a certain girl with braided blue hair near him stiffened considerably. Then, she crouched and started to tremble while furiously writing the character for _hito_ (person) and seemingly swallowing it over and over. Clearly a sign of nervousness. With nothing better to do, Souma decided to talk to her.

"Hello." He calmly asked while approaching from her front to avoid surprising her.

"Umm… Hello… Yuukihira-san wasn't it?" She replied shakily, clearly still nervous.

"Yes. I'm surprised you remembered my name."

"Well, after that bold declaration in the opening ceremony, who won't?"

"Haha, you might have a point. Anyway, are you okay? You seem to be faring badly."

She then looked as if she was ready to cry, but relieved at the same time that there was someone she could talk to about her problems.

"I'm… Doomed… You see, if I receive even one more E rating from any class, I will be expelled. As I expected… I'm no good…"

Megumi was clearly depressed. She was very naïve in thinking an amateur chef from a rural village like her could compete in such a prestigious academy. At that moment, she was nearing the end of her path. The dead end. She felt more towards resignation rather than fear actually. But she still felt anxious and nervous.

"Can I give you an advice Tadokoro-san? I mean, I might not be credible of actually giving you advice, but at your current situation, it was better than nothing, right?"

"I guess so… I don't think it can get any worse… I think that my expulsion is only a matter of time anyway."

"Well, in that case, here's my advice for you. Think of it like this. You're doomed to be expelled and this is your last day in Tootsuki. And so, you decided to give your all on this lesson and leave something memorable for Tootsuki. That way, you can leave without regret. How's that?"

Megumi seemed to think for a moment before continuing to sulk.

"It seems that Yuukihira-san also thinks I will fail, huh?"

"Maybe yes… Maybe not. Either way, you should try my advice. See you around then, Tadokoro-san."

With that, he left her and went back to his station. Megumi was still shaken. But after hearing that advice, she felt somewhat calmer. Maybe there's some truth to that transfer student's advice.

/

"Yuukihira Souma and Nakiri Alice!"

"What!" Souma exclaimed after Chapelle announced his pairing.

Searching desperately across the room, Souma scanned the faces of the other students for a certain face. At the same time, a girl with white hair and white skin with a longer bang on her left side of her face was doing the same thing. Somehow or the other, their gaze met at the same time.

Now, Souma was not a kid. Even though he was happy and excited at the same time, he kept his manners in check. So, after he calmly approached his best friend whom he hadn't seen in person for more than four years, he contained himself and refrained from hugging her or doing something else that may embarrass her in public.

"Souma-kun!"

But instead, she leaped to hug him instead. It seemed that she hadn't changed much. He was not unhappy though.

"Alice-chan. Long time no see." He said while returning her hug briefly before pushing her away. Even though it was pleasant, they were still in public after all.

"Mou… Why didn't you tell me you're transferring to Tootsuki? When Souma-kun suddenly showed up at the podium during the entrance ceremony, I was shocked you know. And what's with that lame declaration? That's so like you! You haven't changed at all, Souma-kun!"

"Hahaha, sorry about that. The same could be said to you. You haven't changed either! Couldn't you hold the reunion hug off until after the class? What are you, ten?"

"Hmph!" She acted tsun instead when she had no retort. Well, at least she had the decency to blush in shame.

"Well, putting that aside, how's Ryou? Is he doing just fine?"

"Oh yes, he hasn't changed much either. Although now he takes off his headband more often."

"Oh really? Isn't that good? But it's troublesome too at the same time isn't it?"

"Hahaha, it certainly is."

And with that, the old friends happily conversed with each other, catching up while waiting for the pairing announcement to end. Miraculously, they managed to went through their reunion without being reprimanded for their noisiness by Chapelle-sensei. Not long after that, the assignment finally started and their conversation was cut short. It seemed that the recette they were assigned with was beef bourguignon. Souma took a look at the blackboard and managed to memorize the recipe by only reading it once.

"Okay, let's do this Alice-chan! I believe you have improved since then?"

"Of course! And Souma-kun too, right? If it's Souma-kun, your skills by now must be godlike… How unfair…" Alice pouted a little.

Well, it was true. Souma was, in his own way, a genius. Perhaps it's because of his eidetic memory when it comes to anything cooking related. Or perhaps it's just because of his amazing passion for cooking. But his growth rate when he's learning to cook has always been simply astounding. When Alice first met Souma in Scandinavia, specifically Denmark, a few years ago, he was absolutely blind in molecular gastronomy. But after just six months of her teaching him, when they had to separate again, he as almost on par with her in her own field. He was scary. But it's not like Alice hate it though. Although she's a bit jealous, but she's also proud of her friend's talent.

"Haha, you flatter me Alice-chan. But you're even more amazing than me. Didn't you win the gold medal for both the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) and the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) as the youngest gold-medalist for both at thirteen?"

"Well… That's…"

"And weren't you known as a monster who devours the first place in almost every regional science competition in your junior school years?"

"It's not that great…"

"Oh, how about becoming the youngest guest lecturer at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) when you gave that public lecture at their Calculus Conference when you were 14?"

"I worked hard for that! I was nervous, you know… Wondering whether the college students will listen to a 14 years old brat or not…"

"Hmm… Oh yeah. Didn't you recently release a thesis? About 3 or 4 months ago? I think it's called 'Formulation of The Molecular Thermodynamic Model for Organic Compounds Boiling Using Schrödinger's Equation'. Did I get it right?"

"Mou… Souma-kun. Have you been stalking me or something?" She complained accusingly.

"Hahaha, it's not like I'm not allowed to follow up what my kawaii Alice-chan is doing, is it?"

"Well, I guess compared with your peaceful life at Shokujidokoro Yuukihira, mine has been pretty eventful."

"Why don't you just admit you're amazing…" He half-mumbled.

"What do you want me to say? 'Ohohoho, of course I'm amazing. It's me after all. Praise me more!' Something like that?" She mimicked in an ojou-sama's voice.

"Hmm… That's surprisingly kind of annoying."

"See?! What about you, Souma-kun? Didn't you tour the world with Jouichirou-san? I bet you've learned many things since the last time we met."

"Well… I did. Oh yeah, speaking of that, I just remembered. I came up with this amazing combination the other day. You have to try it, Alice-chan. It's squid and peanut butter."

"There goes your bad habit of food raping again… I think it's also Jouichirou-san's fault for passing that to you. Squid with peanut butter… Ugh, I can imagine how terrible it would be."

"I know, right? You must try it. It's so terrible, it's amazing. Hehehe."

"No thanks. I think I'll pass on the raped food."

"Hahaha, as usual, your terminology is something else Alice-chan."

"Really? I don't think it's particularly weird… By the way, didn't you had Erina as your transfer examiner? How did it go? Spectacularly, I believe?"

"Well, I don't know about spectacular. But she was very stuck up and condescending at the beginning. But after she tasted my dish, she apologized to me. Saying something like she was at fault for misjudging my value as a chef, or something like that."

"WOW! ISN'T THAT AMAZING? I mean, it's that Erina you know? The epitome of ojou-sama. God's Tongue herself. As expected of Souma-kun."

"Hahaha. Oh yeah, I met your grandfather too. He was peeking from the door, so I made his share too and invited him in. He's a pretty nice guy. I didn't expect it at first seeing how intimidating that old man is."

"Yeah, he's actually a big softie. But that was quite a surprise. It's rare for him to meddle in student affairs. Much less the transfer exam."

"So, what does the old man do in his leisure time?"

"Hmm… Let me think… He-"

"30 minutes left!" Chapelle-sensei suddenly declared. His eyes fixed on the still happily chatting pair. Judging by his expression, he was not pleased at the two.

Alice and Souma stopped their heated conversation abruptly and stared at each other in the eyes. They blinked once, twice…

"Huh?" They said together.

Meanwhile, the pair next two them was staring at them, Souma specifically.

"Look at that. They're going to fail now… There's not enough time to cook the meat until it's tender enough. It's the transfer student's fault for being all chummy with Nakiri Alice…"

"Haha, yeah. Now she's going to hate that transfer student for making them both fail."

But on the other hand, Souma and Alice didn't panic in the slightest.

"Well then, shall we begin cooking Alice-chan?"

"Yes. 30 minutes huh…"

"How about you take care of the meat? I'll take care of the sauce and garnishes."

"Ok."

Meanwhile /

Kurokiba Ryou was by no mean an amateur chef. He had skills, far above what could be considered average level. Even though he was far from being the best, but he was even further from the worst. However, during his classes in Tootsuki, he usually only gets average grades. It wasn't because he was incompetent, but it was because he didn't even try. He saw no point in excelling, so he only made sure he passes and nothing more.

That day on French cuisine cooking practicum, the teacher unexpectedly announced pre-selected pairings. Usually, they would let the students choose their own pair. Ryou would be content with sticking with the ojou and let her do most of the work. But the ojou is ambitious. She didn't want him to bring down her grades because he doesn't even try, so he usually pairs off with some random incompetent students.

When Ryou saw his designated pair on that class for the first time, he thought she was just another incompetent student. Tadokoro Megumi, an ordinary looking girl with braided blue hair who looked like she had anxiety disorder. Oh well, another day for Kurokiba Ryou. They will strike a C, the minimum passing grade, by the end of the lesson. However, the teacher went off saying in his class, students will get either an A or E. Troublesome… Maybe he should flunk this one? One E mark wouldn't kill him.

And then he remembered her. His partner. Tadokoro Megumi. The lowest scorer in the junior high's final exam who barely passed. The rock bottom of their generation. He heard that she would be expelled if she got one more E rating. Oh well, poor her, but it's not his business. Tootsuki doesn't need people like her anyway. Even if he helped her, she would just be weeded out in the future. There're still many obstacles on their road to graduation anyway.

"Kurokiba-san, is it? I'm sorry, but I think I will be troubling you this time. But please take care of me."

"Hmm… Whatever."

She was polite. Not like it mattered.

"Shall we begin then? May I prepare the vegetables for the garnishes?" She asked carefully

"Do whatever you like." He replied uninterestedly.

As they begun, he took the beef from the pantry and walked to their counter. He was very laid back, not bothering with efficiency or speed. Instead, he watched her work. That's one of his pastime hobbies. Watching his partner work, training his keenness to notice every single mistakes in their cooking. And if they messed up, he would sweep in and clean up the mess. Adequately at least, so that they would get a passing grade, but not enough to get an A rating.

He watched as she was preparing herself to start cooking. He noticed she was shaking terribly. Well, it could be the last time she cooks in Tootsuki, so it's only natural. But then, she forcibly slapped both her cheeks with her hands. It was an odd trick, but it seemed to work. Her shaking stopped. Her face was determined, no longer showing anxiety. And she started.

And so he watched… Looking carefully at her actions, looking to spot her mistakes. Only… There wasn't any. Seriously, it was ridiculous. There wasn't any. He couldn't believe his eyes. The shy girl who's supposed to be the dead last of the academy was flawlessly preparing her vegetables. He couldn't spot a single mistake. Even though he might be able to do better if he was in his place… But still, that level of skill is insane. Someone that good shouldn't ever get an E rating from any class. So… Why? Her nervousness? It's that bad? Should he laugh? But it didn't feel funny.

But then, suddenly he felt as if somebody was gripping his heart. A painful thud inside his chest that must have been his imagination, but he still felt vividly nonetheless. Why? What was that feeling? Ah… Guilt. That's right. But why though?

"Oi." He impolitely addressed her.

"What is it, Kurokiba-san?" She didn't appear to be offended though.

"Aren't you usually more… nervous?"

He didn't word it well. And he was sure it was very rude as well. But she wasn't angry in the slightest. In fact, she blushed in shame. 'This girl is really soft…' He thought.

"Well, of course I'm nervous. This could be my last time cooking in this academy after all. But someone gave me an advice earlier… He said that I should think that this is my last time cooking here and to assume that I will fail."

A person degrading her? Setting her up to fail? Not unusual.

"But then, he also told me to give it my best and try to cook something memorable as my last dish to Tootsuki, so that I can leave without regret."

Ah, that's not it. That person knew what he's doing. It was an excellent advice after all for her. Ryou sighed tiredly. It would be troublesome. But he knew what he was going to do. He finally understood his own feeling, the guilt that he felt earlier. The girl in front of him was a talented person who's unfortunate enough to be hindered by a limitation that she's not able to overcome by herself, and no one had every reached out to help her before. But on the other hand, what has he been doing? He was undeniably skilled. In fact, he could be considered downright genius when it comes to seafood. But instead, he purposely put his own limiter and hindered himself.

He had wondered on occasions why he was almost never excited. He did most things while feeling that they're pointless. So, he did them half-heartedly, or sometimes he didn't do them at all. The only thing that made him excited was when he would face the ojou in a cook-off. Perhaps because he strived to be better and considered the ojou a worth rival, a worthy cause, thus a worthy purpose. But at that moment in that cooking class, he found another worthy purpose in his life.

/

"Megumi."

"H-h-hai?"

She couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Out of nowhere, Kurokiba-san suddenly called out her first name, without honorifics. It was the first time a boy addressed her so casually. Weirdly, she didn't dislike it. But at the same time, she was also starting to get nervous. For him to call her by her given name… What would he do next?

At the same time, she noticed how he moved to untie the red bandana he always had on his wrist as he called her. After he disassembled the cloth in one precise movement, he went to tie it on his forehead.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!"

His sudden outburst startled her and made her jump in fear. If she hadn't forcibly covered her mouth, she would've let a shout of surprise out. But it didn't faze him. The man in front of her at that moment was not the Kurokiba Ryou she knew. No longer was he limp or meek. The person in front of her was a… monster. With seemingly burning eyes and fierce scowl, he made her want to crawl into a hole and die there.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWERE! JUST YOU WATCH! _KONO ORE-SAMA_ WILL MAKE YOU GREAT!"

And then he moved. Megumi was dumbfounded. Before her was a RAMPAGING madman. It looked as if he was brutally mutilating the beef in front of him to smithereens. His eyes seemed to glow and his movements seemed to show no control. Uncontrollable madness. She could almost feel the imaginary flame emanating from him. And yet… It was flawless. When he was done, a perfect beef fillet was done for the bourguignon.

'This person… Is AMAZING!' Megumi thought.

Suddenly she felt as if she was slapped hard. What do people call that sort of thing? That's right, a wakeup call. She had hers right then. In front of her was a MONSTER. And yet, he could astoundingly keep it in his control and unleash it at will. Compared to that, Megumi couldn't even muster the courage to face her own cooking in a mere classroom. It was pathetic. She didn't even have a fighting spirit, let alone a monster inside of her. It made her realize just how much control she had had over her own cooking. Almost nil in pressured condition that it.

But she needed to change. She wanted to change. And so, she mustered her own resolve as she went back to work. If people were to look at them at that point, they would have think that the burning fire around Kurokiba Ryou was somehow contagious. Because it was unmistakable. For the first time in her life, Tadokoro Megumi had a brilliant crimson flame around her.

/

"Well then, shall we begin cooking Alice-chan?"

"Yes. 30 minutes huh…"

"How about you take care of the meat? I'll take care of the sauce and garnishes."

"Ok."

At that point, many groups have already completed theirs already. Although some already passed, most of them were undergoing their second attempt. But when a certain pair came to present their dish to Chapelle-sensei, both Souma and Alice turned their attention towards them.

"Ah, so Ryou was paired up with that girl…"

"Do you know that girl, Souma-kun?"

"Not really. I just met her here earlier. She looked so nervous and told me she was on the brink of expulsion. But I had a… call it a gut feeling. It was just a guess, but I feel like she had a real talent. So I gave her some advice."

"I see… Too bad for her though. Ryou-kun never gets serious in class. He only aims for a pass and doesn't even wear his… WHAT! WHY IS HE WEARING HIS BANDANA?"

/

Roland Chapelle was sweating. He had years of experience on teaching at Tootsuki, so judging food wasn't foreign to him. Having taught some elite ten seat holders as well, he occasionally had experienced some truly miraculous dishes himself. But he had never felt such burning passion on a plate in his whole life prior to that class. Not just the dish itself, the pair of chefs responsible for the dish was constantly burning. Even in his long years, he had never experienced such a flaming aura. It made him sweat.

Firstly, he carefully looked at the dish. It was a standard beef bourguignon. It looked almost perfectly the same as its template pictures in cookbooks. The smell was also great. Although not particularly outstanding, but it deserved 10/10 in both appearance and smell. Of course, an elite-ten-level could breach that 10 barrier. Tsukasa Eishi himself had created a dish that Chapelle judged inwardly as 12/10 once. After the smell and appearance, next was the taste.

Before he tasted their dish, he briefly looked at both chefs. They were someone he recognized from their reports. As a member of the board of lecturers, Chapelle was given some administration duties as well. That year, he got a job regarding the data of the 92nd generation of Tootsuki. He recognized the boy by chance because he remembered when he inwardly commented that 'Kurokiba' was a funny name indeed. He was very average. Scoring almost all Cs and occasional Bs. He's not in any danger of expulsion, but he didn't excel. But the girl. Her report was horrible. Marked as the lowest rank in all graduates, she barely passed her final exam with the lowest passing score possible. And she had been given the probation sanction, where she'll be expelled after one more E-rating.

But that heavy aura… Could it blaze from those two? One average and one horrible student? But there's no mistaking that what Chapelle was feeling was real. And so, he gulped in anticipation and sliced the beef. It was tender. Another 10/10 for texture. With his fork, he stabbed the beef slice and skewered some vegetable garnish as well into his fork. He felt the vegetable's crisp clearly. The garnishes were apparently also amazingly well done. Another 10/10. And so, he went for the finale and put it into his mouth.

Gasps. Resounding gasps echoed throughout the room. Why, he wondered. Ah… Yes… He was smiling. Something he hasn't done for a long time. Since when, he wondered? Since his wife Cordelia passed away. The answer came easily. Tsukasa Eishi's dish was served like a beautiful offering from a knight to his queen. It made him felt like royalty. Truly deserving of the title he was going to be bestowed with. If he was not an esteemed cook himself, he might have prostrated in front of Tsukasa Eishi.

But the dish from Kurokiba and Tadokoro… He was reminded of the burning passion he had when he was still young and striving to hone his own cooking. His struggles, his achievements, his failures. He had an equally strong will when he was young. Thanks to that, he was able to stand where he was on that day as a Tootsuki lecturer. But his fiery passion had dimmed as he aged. But in that dish, he was reminded of his old fervor.

However, peculiarly, he also felt a contrast feel equally as strong as the first one from that dish. A feeling of warmth. He was reminded of the tiring nights after work. He would go home with sore backs after cooking all day. And then, she would welcome him.

" _Okaerinasai, anata._ " (Welcome home, dear.)

And he would melt. It was the best medicine for his sore muscles. Even though on that day he had met a reckless motorcycle rider who almost hit him. Even though on that day he lost his wallet and with it a month-worth of saving. Even though on that day he messed up royally with his cooking and was harshly reprimanded for his mistakes and had his pride as a chef stomped to the ground. That loving smile and warm welcome would never fail to make him smile every time.

' _Tadaima…'_ (I'm home...)

Unbelievable. Two unremarkable students apparently had such hidden talents. It was why Chapelle never got bored teaching at Tootsuki. It was always a pleasant surprise to find rough diamonds in his batch. He knew right then without a doubt that the two cooks in front of him were going to become great.

The beef bourguignon was executed classically. There wasn't any creative feats or unique tweaks to the recipe. But the classical execution was basically flawless. It only showed how much skills that the two possessed. 'If they were already like this in their first year…' He found it exciting to await their future. It would always be his pride as a teacher to see his students grow and surpass him. Perhaps, that's why he would most probably die as a teacher. Final evaluation. 10.5/10. Not on elite-ten-level just yet, but it might not be impossible for them to reach that level in several years.

"This dish doesn't deserve an A rating."

The girl looked downcast for a moment, but the boy remained calm.

"However, since I don't have the authority to give it an S-rating, it would unfortunately be A-rating for you. Well done."

The girl smiled brilliantly and the boy smirked. They earned the praise after all. Chapelle is very strict. But he does give credit where it's due.

/

"Wow…. As expected of Souma-kun. You're right, that girl is something else. She even somehow managed to make Ryou-kun put on his bandana. Even I have never succeeded in convincing him to do it in class."

"Just a guess. A lucky guess." Souma replied modestly as he continued his cooking.

The time was almost up. Most of the other pairs were already finished or given up. It would be a race against time, but they were confident they would make it. And soon enough, the 30 minutes were up.

"Alright, time's up. Is there anymore pair that want to present their dish?"

"Here you go, sensei. Oagari yo!"

Souma put his plate on the table with Alice standing close behind him. Chapelle saw the dish in front of him and widened his eyes. No… It was impossible. He took a fork and lightly put pressure on the meat. The fork sank in easily as if the meat itself dissolved at the slightest touch. He was sure that pair had only started cooking at the last 30 minutes. So how could they tenderize the meat that well?

"How come you can make the meat this tender in under 30 minutes?"

Alice was happy to come up with the explanation.

"Oh, that's quite simple actually. I performed catalysis with aspartic protease to hydrolyse it. Since there are many substances and solutions in the chemistry cabinet, I managed to produce some carboxylic acid and aspartic acid with a few basic acid-base reactions."

'Hmm… As expected of Nakiri Alice, the supposed heaven-sent child of molecular gastronomy' Chapelle thought.

"That is quite impressive." Chapelle uttered a rare praise.

But Alice only laughed and waved him off.

"Owh, I didn't do much. I was only in charge of cooking the meat. The sauce, garnishes, and wholesome taste is Souma-kun's work."

That casual comment made Chapelle turn his attention to the red-headed boy. The transfer student huh. The one that was rumored to impress Nakiri Erina's God's Tongue. Chapelle was fully expecting Nakiri Alice to lead and excel the dish. If it was to happen, he would not be surprised. However, it appeared that the transfer student was the one leading. Yuhikira Souma… He wondered what kind of dish it was that he presented.

With that in mind, he started to assess the dish. As usual, he judged it systematically. Appearance, 10/10. Aroma… Wait, something's off. The smell is quite different from the common beef bourguignon. It was… more pleasant. There must be a tweak to the recette. The fragrance was superb, but the taste is the most crucial. And so, he went and took a bite.

While there were gasps of surprise when Chapelle-sensei tasted Megumi and Ryou's dish, that time, the ones that greeted Chapelle-sensei's reaction to Alice and Souma's dish were gasps of alarm. As Roland Chapelle took a bite, he involuntarily jerked back with a jolt, making a loud rattle and almost falling down from his own chair. And then, he looked down at the floor, making his face impossible to see. At that point, the students started to whisper.

"Hey, Chapelle-sensei didn't look too happy, right?"

"Could it be his dish is that bad?"

"It's possible. He's just a diner brat after all, right?"

"Do you think Chapelle-sensei will be mad at them?"

"Wow, it would be scary if Chapelle-sensei explodes."

But what was going on in Chapelle's head was far from being angry. He was shaking. His taste buds were enraptured so violently that he was unable to think or move at all. As he finally calmed down after a few seconds after swallowing, he began to think carefully. There was no mistake at all. He didn't want to believe it, but the proof was real. It was the dish in front of him. There's no denying it. 12/10. The dish in front of him was worthy to be considered the level of Tsukasa Eishi's.

"Yuukihira Souma, isn't it?"

When Chapelle finally spoke, the whispers stopped and all eyes and ears were on him.

"Yes, sir."

"What did you change in the recette?"

"Only the sauce. I used deglazing to enrichen it."

To be able to create something this refined with just one additional technique. It was no joke. 'Who are you, Yuukihira Souma?'

"I see… I thought that the last dish was going to be the best dish of the day. It appeared that I'm wrong. I have to say, it is the best dish I've ever tasted since Tsukasa Eishi graduated from my class."

The uproar was immediate. To be compared with one of the elite ten is incredible. Moreover, it's the first seat. It's an unspeakable honor.

"Osomatsu!" Souma pulled his headband off with a smooth yank.

"Tell me, Yuukihira Souma, are you aiming for the elite ten?" Chapelle asked.

"Yes, if I can. But I don't think it would be that easy. From what I heard, they're pretty amazing, aren't they?"

"They are. And you're right, it's not going to be easy. But I think it's not impossible for you."

"Thank you, sensei. I will do my best." He bowed gratefully.

Never before had the strict Chapelle-sensei given such a skyrocketing compliment. It was a given that by the end of the night, Souma had become famous around campus. Almost no one hadn't heard of him by the next day. The miraculously genius transfer student. Mixed feelings were created in the hearts of the students that day. Some felt awe, some felt pleasantly surprised, some felt scornfully surprised, some felt jealously. But most of them, they felt fear.

'Yuukihira Souma… Just who in the world are you?'


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"SOUMAAAA!"

A rampaging beast stampeded at him right after he exited the building. The beast nearly tackled him, but Souma kept his cool composure even after said beast gripped his collar and declared in his face,

"FIGHT ME, DAMN IT!"

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Ryou."

"I will show you how much I've improved. I'M NOT THE SAME MAN I WAS BACK THEN!"

"Okay, okay. I got it. Tomorrow, okay? I will stop by your place after school."

The beast seemed to accept that and went to pull his bandana off. As the red piece of cloth was stripped, the beast was no more. In its place was a passive man.

"Nice to see you too, Souma. What have you been doing?"

"Owh, nothing impressive. I only worked at Yuukihira alongside my dad."

"Ah… Is that so…"

"Hahaha, too bad the show's over."

Alice had been watching the whole scene in amusement. And after the spectacle was over, she decided to announce her presence.

"Ah, ojou. You were watching…" Ryou commented uninterestedly.

"Fufufu. By the way, Souma-kun, have you already got a place to stay?"

"Oh, I do. I'm going to head there right now." Souma replied.

"That's too bad, you could just stay at Nakiri mansion…"

And so, the reunion between the three went calmly after the initial outburst. With a promise of visiting the next day, Souma got off of dueling Ryou. They separated not long after that, and Souma made his way to the minimarket.

There're lots of minimarkets and grocery stores across Tootsuki. Although you would need to go to an actual market to buy the appropriate necessities for, say, a shokugeki, but the minimarkets were enough if you only need to pick up some minor stuffs. And so, he grabbed a few things and began to walk to the Polar Star Dormitory.

It was a fair distance from the central part of the campus to the dorm. It might be a good idea to buy a motorcycle. It was something he should think about. When he finally arrived at the dorm, it was already dark. Funnily enough, his welcoming was certainly… unique.

A stampeding mob of wild games. Followed by an excess release of smokes indoor. It was certainly out of his expectation. Apparently, the residents in the dorm were interesting. His dad's right, Polar Star Dorm always house the most interesting people. And after the mess, he was able to meet the dorm mother.

"Ah, sorry about that. The residents in our dorm can be quite hectic." She greeted Souma with a kind smile.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Souma brushed it aside.

"My name is Daimidou Fumio. I'm the dorm mother. Do you want to transfer to the dorm?"

"Yes, if you would allow me."

Suddenly, the face of a kind old woman was replaced by a threatening glare of a harsh food critic.

"Then you need to prove yourself. Do you have your ingredients?"

"Yes, Daimidou-san. I have them right here." He showed the small plastic bag from his earlier shopping at the minimart.

"That's good. So you're already familiar with this dorm's rule, then? By the way, calling me Fumio-san is enough."

"Okay. And I'm not really that knowledgeable. I just happened to see the poster for this dorm."

"I see, then you can start as soon as you're ready. You can use the kitchen."

After muttering his thanks, Souma was led to the kitchen by the dorm warden. When he started cooking, the older woman didn't leave. Instead, she watched him work. She was quite surprised when he saw the boy taking out discounted beef that he must have bought from the nearby minimart. And then he took out some cheese bars. It's a regular branded cheese that's very cheap compared to the high quality cheese that Tootsuki can provide. Obviously doesn't belong in a gourmet dish. As he started to chop some onions and doesn't seem to procure any more major ingredients, Fumio didn't expect much from him. She could tell that he was going to fail.

With that in mind, she left the kitchen and chose to sit around instead. The boy would fail and she would encourage him to try again. He would have to camp out for the night. That's too bad, but it was the dorm's rule. As its warden, Fumio must enforce those rules.

/

"It's ready, Fumio-san. Please have a taste."

Fumio looked at the dish presented to her. There's no mistake.

"Yakiniku?"

It was very… plain. It looked like a regular yakiniku that you can find in fast food restaurants. Pieces of grilled meat neatly arranged on a plate with some onions and chives as the garnish. While it could be fine for the average standard, but in Tootsuki, it was really subpar. Fumio sighed. The boy had much to learn if he wanted to survive long enough until he graduated. Anyway, Fumio decided to just have a bite and fail the boy.

Casually, she took a bite, fully expecting a mediocre taste. But she wasn't able to formulate the words she had planned earlier to say to the boy. What was it? To fail encourage him to try again and telling him where the spare tent was for him to camp outside? Instead, she couldn't say anything. She could only tremble slightly. Meanwhile, Souma stood there calmly and waited patiently without betraying anything in his expression.

"EVERYOUNE, GET DOWN HERE, NOW!" Fumio called suddenly.

Confused and curious over the unusual summon, the residents of the dorm didn't take long to make their way there. Isshiki Satoshi, Yoshino Yuuki, Sakaki Ryouko, Marui Zenji, Ibusaki Shun, Aoki Daigo, Satou Shouji, and Tadokoro Megumi.

"Ah… Yuukihira-san. Thank you for your advice earlier in class. It was thanks to you that I was able to do well." Megumi immediately bowed when she caught sight of the boy.

"It was my pleasure, Tadokoro-san. Besides, it's because of your own effort. There's no guarantee that my advice would have worked." Souma modestly refuted.

"Hey, this is the transfer student, right? Is he really as amazing as you said, Megumi-chi?" Yuuki asked with energetic excitement.

"Could it be that he's going to transfer here to Polar Star?" Ryouko wondered aloud.

Acting as their de-facto leader, Satoshi walked forward towards Fumio and asked,

"So why are we called here, Fumio-san."

She pointed her pointer finger at the plate of ordinary looking yakiniku.

"Yuukihira Souma made this dish using discounted meat and XRAFT brand cheese. I saw it with my own eyes. Now, I want you to have a taste." She addressed all the residents.

"Yakiniku? It looks pretty standard…" Zenji stated his observation.

Shun nodded silently in agreement. The others were also starting to wonder aloud why Fumio would call the entire dorm to taste that one dish? In the past dorm-admission test, their caretaker had never done something like that. While the others were quick to underestimate the simple looking dish, Megumi and Satoshi knew better. The earlier having witnessed Souma's proof of skills firsthand in their earlier class, and the latter having sharp wits to Fumio's odd action and was able to put two and two together. And so, the few pieces of meat were quickly picked off by eight people. Six ate their piece casually and two ate theirs while fully expecting something great.

"WHAT'S THIS!?" Shouji shouted.

"WOOAAAHHH, AMAZING!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"This taste… It's cheese. But I would have never thought it would be possible to seep cheese into a yakiniku and produce a taste this refined." Zenji analyzed.

"Moreover… This was made using low-class material…" Shun calmly stated.

But even though he was calm, his inner feeling was in turmoil. And after Shun pointed that out, the rest started to realize the meaning behind it. Soon, they too started to feel unease. If it was to be depicted, their feeling was a combination of shock, awe, and… fear. To see firsthand that someone their age was already that amazing. Even professional chefs would at least feel a little intimidated if they found out that there's someone far better than them with equal footing with them. Their fear was sensible.

But Tadokoro Megumi's feeling was different from the other six. Having known the level Souma was at, she fully expected the dish to be amazing. And she wasn't disappointed. In fact, she was still surprised despite knowing what to expect. After all, Megumi wasn't raised by a wealthy family. So she had never had elite dishes belonging to Michelin starred restaurants before. At her hometown, she was already the best around. And at Tootsuki, she had never tasted the dishes made by someone with elite-ten-level. Even though the dishes Isshiki-senpai had made them dishes before, but she knew that he had never bothered to showcase his true skill. So it was not an exaggeration to say that the simplistic yakiniku was one of the best dish she had ever tasted in her entire life. And to think it was made without much effort with cheap ingredients. His skill was something else. As expected of someone who was able to give a simple yet directly life-changing advice on her. She was awed and honored. And although it might have been selfish on her part, but if he was to start living there, she wished that she could learn many things from him.

But out of the eight residents, it was the oldest one that truly felt touched. Isshiki Satoshi had never been the one for jealousy or competition. Even though he happened to be gifted with a great talent to quickly master almost anything he put his mind to, but it wasn't in his nature to feel contended or threatened when someone even more talented than him emerged. But there are many great talents in the world. Rather than the degree of his skill, Satoshi was more interested to find out what kind of person Yuukihira Souma was. What kind of cook was he?

"Yuukihira-kun. This dish is truly well done, it's very impressive." Satoshi sincerely commended.

"Thank you very much, senpai. It's an honor to be complimented by the seventh seat."

"So you know who I am…" Satoshi said amusedly.

"It should be expected, senpai. After all, the elite ten profiles had their own section in the school's guidebook that's printed every year."

"Hahaha, you're quite bright, aren't you?"

That was quite unexpected. Somebody sharp in wits. It would do wonders to the current elite ten when Yuukihira will enter. After all, the council had surprisingly childish members, you wouldn't guess that the elites were sometimes quite comical. And yes, he said when, not if. Satoshi was quite confident in his prediction.

"So, what do you think. Does he deserve to pass the dorm admission exam?" Fumio asked with a smile.

Of course, a chorus of explicit affirmatives was the answer.

"One more thing though. If I may ask, Yuukihira-kun, do you still have leftover ingredients for the yakiniku?" Satoshi asked curiously.

"Hmm… I think I do. Barely enough for one more portion."

"Alright, would you mind cooking another portion for us, Yuukihira-kun? I think all of us would love to watch you cook." Satoshi suggested.

At his suggestion, the others' reactions were imminent. Of course they would be interested. To watch someone that good in action, surely they would learn a lot. Even Fumio was interested. She deeply regretted leaving the kitchen and underestimating the boy. Megumi too was too busy concentration on her own dish in the class, so she hadn't seen Souma cook before.

"Alright, it would be my pleasure."

/

They all watched carefully as he set to work. The recipe itself wasn't elaborated. It was certainly unique, but quite simple. The first step is to chop the onions and chives. Then, a bit of butter is used as the frying oil. But then, the cheese is melted and poured into the pan. Using low temperature cooking to keep the cheese in its liquid state, the meat was then seared on the pan, letting the cheese seep into it. Then, the meat is seasoned and grilled conventionally and the onions and chives were fried on the previously used pan. After absorbing some meat essence as well, the butter-cheese mix had a fragrance of their own that encompassed the garnish and derived the flavor. And finally, the meat and the garnish were served in one plate, ensuring the strong cheese flavor.

Though the recipe itself was simple, the execution of it was no simple matter. A mediocre chef wouldn't be able to nearly reproduce Souma's level of expertise. There's a lot of delicate point too in the process. One was the low temperature cooking. The cheese must be seeped into the meat, so too low of a temperature wouldn't allow it. But too high of a temperature, the cheese could be burned because of direct contact with hot metal. Finesse was highly required to make that dish.

And so, Isshiki Satoshi expected Yuukihira Souma to cook elegantly like… say, Tsukasa Eishi. He would expect him to execute his cooking flawlessly with grace. But he was wrong… It wasn't what he expected. In fact, none of them expected it. Let alone expect, they couldn't even imagine it. No one there had ever seen a chef cook like that in their whole life.

Like he usually would, Yuukihira Souma put his all when it comes to cooking. When he started, he blocked out the surrounding world and encaged himself and his ingredients in his own reality. And then, he gave his ingredients UTMOST attention. With love. Passionately and lovingly, he caressed his ingredients as one would caress their infant. With precise yet gentle hand, he went through the whole process with ease. Souma gave a whole new meaning to the phrase 'cooking with love'.

Enraptured with his performance, the nine spectators only snapped out of it when the dish was fully presented in front of them. Unable to rein themselves, they devoured the personal portion in a flash, leaving them wanting for more. However, it was exceptionally satisfying. And they sincerely conveyed their compliment to the chef.

"Osomatsu!"

/

The next day, Souma was considerably tired. After his test, Isshiki-senpai decided that they should have a welcoming party for Souma. And after partying for the better part of the night, he was tired. But it was fun, though. He got to meet some new friends. And his dorm mates looked like nice people too.

And so, he breezed through the class and went to the Nakiri mansion. As per his promise the previous day, he was going to face Ryou in a cook-off. Although he was not in prime condition, he could still handle it. He had faced worse in Yuukihira after all. Even after a whole night of testing new recipe, he would still have to open the shop the next day and keep his performance up.

The Nakiri Estate was large. It was one of the nicest establishment in the school ground. After all, the director of the school, Nakiri Senzaemon, lived there. As well as Nakiri Erina and Nakiri Alice. The mansion was so large that the three aforementioned even had their own wings with their own entrances. And so, Souma found himself entering through the 'Alice entrance' as he dubbed it.

It was very large. Even one wing of the mansion was already more spacious than your average family house. The Nakiri sure have it nice. As he entered, an old man with some people lined up behind him greeted Souma.

"Good afternoon, Yuukihira-sama. It's a pleasure to have Ojou-sama and Kurokiba-sama's friend over. My name is Shimatsu Teguchi, and I am the head butler of this wing." The old man greeted.

"Good afternoon as well, Shimatsu-san. You don't need to be formal with me, Shimatsu-san. If you don't mind, just Souma is fine."

"Very well, as you wish, Souma-san. We have been told to expect your arrival. Shall I lead to you ojou-sama?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

It was impressive. Apparently, each of the mansion's wing had their own staff hierarchy. As he was led to the second floor, he sightsaw on the interior of the mansion on the way. Souma also made small talk with a woman named Shirotsuma Mine, one of the people welcoming him. It seemed that she was the head chef of the wing. Despite already on her late thirties, Souma found her to be fun and easy to talk to. They got along well and chatted relaxingly on the way. It seemed that her job was pretty fun. Apparently, they didn't need to cook so often because oftentimes, Ryou and Alice would cook for themselves. They only needed to work hard when there are guests or events held in the mansion, which rarely happened. And with that little workload, her pay was very generous. So she was very content with her job.

In the estate, Alice and Ryou had their own floor. The wing had four floors. Five actually, but the topmost was the chimney, used as a storage room for junks. The fourth belonged to Alice, housing lots of cutting edge cooking appliances and also her personal lab as well as her room. The third floor belonged to Ryou. Surprisingly… Or unsurprisingly, he also had some fitness equipment in addition to seafood processing tools. The second floor yielded a large kitchen, a dining room, and also the living room. And the first floor had a sitting room for receiving guests, some guest rooms, the servants quarter, as well as a passage leading to the other wings of the Nakiri Mansion.

The sheer size of the building was impressive. So, even though Alice and Ryou crammed many stuffs on their own floor, they still had much room left. If two additional people were to move in with one on each floor, there's still more than enough room. Souma nearly regretted refusing Alice's offer to move in there. But considering how great Polar Star Dormitory was in its own way, Souma didn't regret it. The keyword being 'nearly'.

"Souma-kun, welcome to our humble home." Alice said in mock modesty.

As he entered the living room on the second floor, he immediately saw Alice who was potato-ing on the couch and watching what seemed to be a cheesy romantic movie. And Ryou was also in the room. However…

"Hey, Alice, Ryou." He greeted, pointedly ignoring the playful sarcasm.

And then he waited… It took nearly a whole minute. Souma walked to the couch and sat beside Alice and calmly stared at Ryou while he was waiting. Alice was also amusedly staring at Ryou. The black-clad seafood chef was doing push-ups. And he did so with despondent yet focused determination. From experience, Souma knew that it wasn't wise to disturb Ryou's routine, so he waited patiently.

"…, 98, 99, 100!"

After whispering the last three counts with exponential raise in the volume, Ryou put on his bandana with a swift, practiced movement.

"YOSH! SOUMA! YOU FINALLY CAME!"

"Of course, do you take me for some coward?" Souma teased with a smirk.

"Hmph, you have gotten better since then, right? You won't disappoint me, right?" Ryou half-threatened Souma.

"Don't worry, I had left you in the dust ages ago, and now you've been blown away by the wind out of my sight." Souma teased him even further.

"HOW DARE YOU! I'LL SHOW YOU I'M NOT THE MAN I WAS!" Ryou declared with fiery resolve.

"BRING IT!" Souma matched Ryou's resolve and head-butted with a confident smile.

/

And so, Shimatsu Teguchi, Shirotsuma Mine, and Nakiri Alice ended up being the judge. They were seated behind a table in front of the kitchen designed fully for taste-testing and something like that. At that time, both contestants were ruffling around the pantry on the back of the kitchen to choose their ingredients. The kitchen had a vast assortment of meat, vegetable, spices, and even chemical compounds that's regularly used in cooking. Alice's influence no doubt.

"I'm honored to be chosen as a judge. However, I'm not sure I'm qualified to do this. I'm not an expert on this field at all." The head butler said with hesitation.

"Nonsense, Teguchi-san. We're grateful that you agreed to be a judge." Alice countered.

"Just tell us your own feeling about the dish, Shimatsu-san. Whether the dish is delicious or not, and consider which one is more to your liking." Souma added while he was choosing his ingredients

"Hahaha. I will try my best then." The kind older man smiled.

"I'm very looking forward to taste Souma-san's dish. Having been a judge for Ojou-sama and Kurokiba-sama's cook-offs occasionally, it would be great if I can expect Souma-san's dish on the same level." Commented the head chef, Shirotsuma Mine.

"Owh, you bet Mine-san. Souma-kun's cooking will surprise you. In fact, it was precisely for that reason that I asked both of you to come here before they started cooking rather than after." Alice promised.

"Ah, really? I'm looking forward your surprise, ojou-sama." Mine replied cheerfully.

After that discussion, it appeared that both participants were ready. Ryou faced off against Souma in front of the judge desk and they glared at each other. But if you look closely, you can spot a smirk on each of their faces. Acting as the judges' representative, Alice stood and formally announced.

"Well, as we agreed. The theme is antree (main dish) with no particular restriction, and the time limit is one hour. May whoever cook the better dish win. You may begin cooking now."

As they started, the judges were immediately enraptured by Souma. To those already knowing it, the effect was lessened although still considerably felt. But for those witnessing his cooking for the first time, it was breath-taking. Even after seeing it so many times, Alice never got tired of watching Souma cook. His passionate and loving style of cooking. Truly a distinct individuality that he alone possessed.

But Ryou didn't want to be outdone. With a burning passion, he gave his best performance in his entire life. He had trained for this point. He had honed his cooking every day since then. It was because his will to win. To be the best.

Since he was small, he was always pressured to be the best. Second-rated chefs are losers, and thus, wouldn't be able to survive. In order to survive in the harsh condition that he had been forced to in his early age, he always strived to be the best. And so, he was beyond pissed when a red haired boy suddenly showed up in his life years ago and easily kicked his ass. No matter how many times he had challenged the boy, Ryou could never win. That's why on that day, in the Nakiri mansion, he was going to try again.

After little over half an hour. Souma was already done. Not bothering to utilize the more than twenty minutes of time he had left, he went and presented his dish to the judges. He brought 3 plates and placed it in front of the judges.

"Oagari yo!"

"This is…"

"It's a Mini Soufflé Omelette."

It was egg cooked to be form a soufflé. It looked very simplistic. Even your average housewives should be able to make something like that. And furthermore, the theme was antree. Wasn't that more suited for an appetizer? Given such a first impression, the judges were disappointed, except for Alice of course. She had already knew what her friend was capable of.

"Well, then. I guess we should try it?" Mine asked nervously.

"Oh, yes. I'm sure it will be delicious." Teguchi tried to sound optimistic.

But obviously, they were trying to avoid offending Souma. Souma could only hold his laughter. Meanwhile, Alice only smirked and didn't say anything. And so, while Ryou was still cooking, they tried Souma's dish.

Of course, nothing could have prepared both Teguchi and Mine for the taste at the moment they put a spoonful into their mouth. Even after being sufficiently prepared herself, Alice was still shaken.

"WOOOAHHH! What's this? The omelette practically melts in my mouth. Is this even possible? It's like magic!" Mine exclaimed. Even after being one of the head chefs in the Nakiri mansion for a few years already, she had rarely tasted anything on par with that dish. Almost none in fact. It was stunning.

"This is very impressive. Very impressive indeed. And despite looking light, it's actually quite filling." Teguchi complimented while he kept eating with a large smile. Being a butler doesn't warrant him deluxe cuisine. So it was a rare occasion for him to truly enjoy good food. The food provided for the servants were already above average standard, it was Nakiri mansion after all. However, it's still far from Tootsuki standard. So Teguchi felt really lucky to be allowed to judge.

"You're right, Teguchi-san. This is surprisingly suited for an antree after all. How did you manage this?" Mine aksed.

"I added grinded wheat while mixing the egg. Just the right amount so that it doesn't destroy the egg's soft texture, but quite enough to act as the carbohydrate to make the dish an antree."

"Impressive. You're truly skilled, Souma-san." Teguchi praised.

Alice didn't offer her own comment. But judging by the way she kept hugging her own frame in bliss and moaning cutely with each spoonful, Souma guessed that she liked it.

"Osomatsu!" Souma took his headband off.

Seeing that Ryou was still not done yet, Souma went off and cooked two more portions of the soufflé. One for Ryou and one for himself. He guessed he would just eat that as diner so he didn't need to worry about missing diner at Polar Star.

"Hey, Ryou. Make my portion too, would you?" Souma asked casually.

"OF COURSE! That went without saying. I want to you TASTE for yourself how much I have improved!"

And with that, Souma's plan for dinner went flawlessly. Not long after the judges finished Souma's dish, Ryou came and presented his. There was only about 5 minutes left on the clock. Ryou really maximized the time he had.

"Here you go! Grilled Salmon with Honey-Soy Marinade!"

What Ryou presented was a salmon dish, not surprising considering his specialty. It was a very mouth-watering sight. The sublime flesh of a high quality salmon, lightly coated with marinade, making it gleam brilliantly when you hit the right angle to reflect the light. Knowing how good Ryou was with seafood, the judges were sure it would taste even better than it looked. And so, they ate.

"AMAZING! The texture, the taste, the freshness! The salmon is prepared and cooked perfectly. Moreover… The quality of this salmon is something else… Is this even from the kitchen stock?" Mine inquired.

"I picked the fish myself this morning. So it came from my own stock." Ryou replied confidently.

"As expected of Kurokiba-sama… Your eyes are unmatched when it comes to discerning seafood quality." Mine praised.

"Hmmm… You have certainly improved, Kurokiba-sama… This is very enjoyable." Teguchi was eating happily yet again with a big smile on his face. It was the second time in the same day that he was allowed to enjoy a truly exquisite meal.

"Ryou-kun. I think this is your best dish yet. Well done." Alice too was in bliss while eating Ryou's cooking. With a light blush on her face, she looked really content eating slowly with a soft smile.

Ryou smirked in satisfaction.

'What do you think, Souma?' He thought.

/

"Okay, we have a winner." Alice announced.

After tasting Ryou's dish, the three judges discussed the result between themselves briefly. But it didn't look too hard for them to reach a unanimous decision. So it looked like it was quite a decisive match.

"It was close. But the difference was still clear. We all agreed that one dish stood over the other although just slightly." Alice smirked as she eyed Ryou who was clearly trying to hide his anxiety and the completely calm Souma.

"And the winner is…" She purposely added the tension. Ryou gulped.

"Souma-kun!" Alice proclaimed cheefuly.

"DAMN IT!"

"Hahaha, Ryou. Still couldn't beat me, huh? That's too bad. How many losses again that you had against me? 200?"

"THAT'S 189! GET IT RIGHT, DAMN IT!"

"Hmm… So you counted, huh? Sore loser much?"

"FUCK YOU, SOUMA!"

And so, both Mine and Teguchi stared uneasily at the pair of boys, one who was mercilessly teasing the other, and the other one who kept screaming profanities and seemed to be itching to punch something.

"Umm… Are they going to be okay, ojou-sama?" Teguchi asked hesitantly.

But Alice was completely calm.

"Oh, they'll be fine. You'll see."

/

"HAHAHAHA! IS THAT TRUE?"

"IT'S TRUE. I'M TELLING YOU, SOUMA! HE REALLY DROPPED HIS NEW FISHING POLE INTO THE RIVER. HE WAS BRAGGING ABOUT IT TOO BEFORE THAT. HAHAHA!"

"OH YEAH. THAT REMINDS ME. YOU SEE, ONCE I HAD THIS SHADY LOOKING CUSTOMER. HE CAME IN HESITANLY WHILE LOOKING AROUND NERVOUSLY. I THOUGHT HE WAS UP TO NO GOOD. APPARENTLY HE WAS JUST HUNGRY, BUT DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY. HAHAHA! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT, RYOU?"

"HAHAHAHA!"

Shimatsu Teguchi sweat dropped. What he felt was pure exasperation. In front of him, the two teens who previously quarreled over their cook-off were getting along. Far more than getting along, they had their arms SLUNG OVER EACH OTHER'S SHOULDER. Like bros… On second thought… Even really brothers don't really do that. Meanwhile, his ojou-sama only looked at him with a 'told you so' look.

Teguchi wasn't sure that it was okay to let them be. But they were getting along incredibly well. Their arm around each other with the other holding a glass. And they kept refilling each other's glass with more drink. It was only coke though. And while the boys were getting catching up quite happily on one of the sofa. Alice sat in the other sofa and was reading a manga while also drinking some coffee herself.

"Well then, if that's all, I shall take my leave now, ojou-sama." Teguchi bowed before leaving with Alice shouting thanks at him for bringing them drinks. And so, Alice let Souma and Ryou talk to their heart's content until well into the night.

Just when Alice was about to cut them off and tell them to call it a night, Ryou took the first leave. He said goodbye to Souma and left for his room, leaving Souma together with Alice in the living room.

"Thank you for today, Alice-chan. I should be going back then."

"But it's already this late though… Maybe you should stay over for the night?"

"Well… It would be great I guess." Souma was grateful for the offer. He was already at his body's limit after all. And Polar Star was quite a considerable distance away from Nakiri mansion.

"Okay, I will ask Teguchi-san to send some people to set up the guest room." Alice started to walk… And then she stopped abruptly.

"Wait… I don't think I want to wake the staff up at this hour." It was one in the morning.

"It's okay then. I will just sleep here on the couch."

"Are you sure you're ok with that?" Alice asked.

"Of course. I'm already grateful enough for being allowed to stay."

"Well… I think I have a spare blanket in my room. The living room is usually freezing at night. So let's go up and see." Alice suggested.

And so, they went up. As he entered Alice's room for the first time, Souma was pleasantly impressed. Unexpectedly, her room was really tidy. And it didn't have too much stuff in it either. On one side of the wall was a large glass case, displaying lots of trophies for cooking or science competitions. On the other end was a dresser, a bookshelf, and a study desk. And the largest furniture in the room was very large indeed. A fluffy-looking luxurious king-sized bed. Souma couldn't help himself. He jumped.

"Wow, your bed is amazing, Alice-chan!"

Souma jumped right at the center of the bed and snuggled into the warm pillow contently. Alice giggled at his antic.

"Come on, Souma-kun. Stop acting so childish!" She playfully scolded.

"…"

"Souma-kun?"

A loud snore.

"MOU!"

/

Yukihira Souma stirred into consciousness slowly with his eyes still closed. Seriously, he slept so well the previous night. It was the best sleep he had ever had in years. As his brain booted up and his cognitive ability began to function, he realized that a few things were off. Firstly, he was too comfortable. Like waaaaay to comfortable. He was lying in a very, very fluffy bed with a very, laying his head on a very tender pillow and a very, and enveloped with a very warm blanket.

Opening his eyes, he realized that he wasn't in his room at Polar Star Dormitory. He looked around while still laying down. After a few seconds, he was able to conclude that the room he resided in was Alice's room. After realizing that, the event of the previous night rushed back into his memory. Yeah, that's right. He remembered being impressed when seeing the interior of Alice's room. And then when her huge bed caught his eye, he jumped on it. The last thing he remembered was thinking how soft the bed was. He must have fallen asleep right then.

And so Souma nonchalantly swung his legs down the bedside. But surprisingly, his feet didn't meet the floor like he expected. Instead, they impacted a soft unknown object that was lying just beside the bed.

"Itai!" A cute voice complained.

"Ah, warui." Souma apologized briefly.

Taking a closer look, he noticed that the unknown object he hit before was actually Alice. After she recovered, she quickly stood upright and started to glare at him. She didn't move, as if waiting for him to say something. The thing was, he wasn't sure what the correct thing was that he's supposed to say.

"Ummm… I'm sorry?" Souma tried the most obvious one.

But Alice was unimpressed and kept her glare.

"Wrong answer, try again." She said.

"Eto… Why are you on the floor by the way?"

"Is that your best try? Are you even trying?" Alice was getting more agitated by the second.

"Okay, I give up. I don't know what to say. I will accept my punishment quietly."

Alice sighed and suddenly it was as if her pent up steamed was released.

"I'm on the floor because unfortunately there wasn't any spare blanket. So the living room was even worse because it's freezing. I've got no choice." She explained with annoyance.

"Anyway, my back hurts now. You better make this up to me soon, Souma-kun. Seriously, who actually falls asleep on people? And on their bed nonetheless. You're unbelievable, Souma-kun! Next time this happened, I'll kick you off the bed. So make sure…"

Souma started to tune her rant out after a few sentences. He had heard what he wanted after all. Although he obediently listened to her rant until the end with a guilty look, he was smiling inwardly. First, she said 'next time'. So he wasn't banned from her room despite what happened. And the second, she was threatening to kick him off her bed. But she didn't actually do it, did she? She could if she wanted too, and that would be her every right. But instead, she chose to let him be. Moreover, she was the one who surrendered her own blanket and covered it over him instead. Yup, Alice's a big softie.

/

"Welcome, my fellow students of Tootsuki! Tonight, I'm your cute and lovely emcee, Kawashima Urara!"

"WOAAAH!"

"Urara-chan! I love you!"

"Marry me, Urara-chan!"

The hall was packed. Usually, a normal shokugeki wouldn't warrant that much audience. However, it wasn't an average shokugeki. That's why the crowd was wild. Well, half the thanks also belonged to the master of ceremony actually. Urara cackled inwardly as she faked an innocent smile upfront.

"And so, tonight we have a very interesting event. Let's first welcome the main hero of this show." Urara gestured to the left side of the stadium. Coming out dramatically, Souma entered with confidence, flashing a brilliant smile that stole the hearts of many women. Urara was quite pleased at that actually. Since he came, the woman crushing on her male admirers who previously would glare at her with jealousy were smitten with Souma instead. It was mutualism for both of them. And he totally deserved that attention. Even Urara herself wasn't ashamed to admit that he was HOT. But she needed to keep her professionalism before her subjective opinion.

"The rumored genius transfer student, dubbed the 'Transmuter of Love', who had gathered a total of 99 consecutive victories and 0 loss in barely two months, let's give a round of applause for YUKIHIRA SOUMA!"

The applause was grand. Mostly it came from the female audience though. Souma smiled kindly at the clapping audience and waved lightly, making many females go "KYAA!"

Souma was silently commending himself. His subtle but offending declaration at the entrance ceremony was the most ingenious idea ever. Since then he had letters of shokugeki challenges barraging him. It wasn't that many at first. But seeing he kept winning them flawlessly, the number of challenges increased exponentially the more famous he was. The rumor of his high praises from the teachers helped too, especially the one from Chapelle-sensei, the strictest of them all. But the ones who challenged him were mostly first years though, with a second year in every ten or twenty challenges. He still could do much more than that.

"And on the challenger side, scion of the Mito family, who currently have Japan's meat distribution as their empire, let us welcome Mito Ikumi!"

The intensity of the applause didn't lose from Souma's. But the contributor ratio was different. There were more male and less female clapping for her compared to Souma. After she climbed the podium from the opposing side, the two faced off at the center of the stage facing their adversary.

"Now let us welcome the judges for this occasion!"

Three figures entered from the back entrance and took their respective seating. They were middle aged men. Their credibility didn't need to be questioned. After all, Tootsuki wouldn't hire just any mediocre food critic even for a regular shokugeki.

"Wait a second, what's this?" Urara was seen checking her phone for a moment. She looked surprised for a second but she was quick to recover and quickly readdressed the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, apparently we have a surprise guest this evening. Please take a look at the VIP spectator room!"

On the topmost back of the podium, a small room with a glass case on its front was lit. In the middle of the room, on one of the two chairs, sat none other than Nakiri Erina, the God's Tongue, with Arato Hisako standing behind her. And beside her on the other chair, sat her cousin, Nakiri Alice, the Heaven-Sent Child of Molecular Gastronomy. The audience went even wilder in excitement.

"Hey, is this match really important? What could possible warrant the attendance of both Nakiri Erina and Nakiri Alice in a first year's shokugeki?"

"Oh yeah, speaking of that… What are the stakes anyway?"

"Could it be that…"

And just like that, the people started to excitedly speculate the stakes and the reason why two VIPs would attend the shokugeki. The speculations ranged from logical guesses, like the Nakiri cousins being interested in Souma's achievements and wanted to scout his potential, to the most absurd ones, like they needed to use the bathroom while running around campus and went for the nearest one in the one of the shokugeki hall, only to catch a glimpse on how hot Souma was and decided that they couldn't miss his shokugeki on a whim. Fortunately for them, or unfortunately for those who wanted to keep fantasizing, Urara soon delivered the answer to their question.

"And here in my hand, I have the written agreement between both parties of this shokugeki. STILL FRESHLY UNOPENED. Currently, I am as unaware of their stakes as you are." Urara waved a sealed envelope to the audience. After that, she ripped the seal facing the audience and read the content of the envelope, to which she widened her eyes and gasped. Enticed by Urara's response, the crowd went even more curious on what the stakes were.

"I can't believe it… My fellow students, it appeared that the terms are DOUBLE SIGNED. For each party, there are TWO SIGNATURES each!"

A collection of gasps and startled sounds reverberated through the audience. It wasn't long until they started to look at the VIP room, back at Urara, and back at the VIP room again. And the sharp ones amongst them were starting to put two and two together and started to whisper their conclusion to their friends.

"That's right, folks! You guessed it! The terms of this shokugeki is signed by Nakiri Alice on Yukihira Souma's side and Nakiri Erina on Mito Ikumi's side."

After confirming their suspicion, the crowd went even more wild. Truly, it's the most exciting entertainment they had yet since their admittance to Tootsuki.

"And the stakes are… In the case of Mito Ikumi's victory, Yukihira Souma will join Nakiri Erina's faction." Urara read.

"WHAT!" Surprised exlamations were thrown around immediately.

"That's practically an honor, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Many have tried to join Nakiri Erina's faction but failed. And if he could get it just by losing... Should he just lose on purpose?"

"But if the stake for his loss is that favorable for him… What is his stake for winning?"

Many quietened immediately as they realized that.

"And in case of Yukihira Souma's victory, Nakiri Erina will go on a WEEK-LONG HOLIDAY TRIP alongside Nakiri Alice and HIMSELF during summer vacation!" Urara shouted the last part at the microphone.

It was at that declaration that the crowd's reactions became interesting. While they had been on one track from the start of the show, it was right then that varying opinions started to form. There were minorities who thought nothing of it, who commended Souma's bravery, who were angry at Souma's impudence, and many more. But most of them, especially the males, were jealous.

"HOW COULD YOU, YUKIHIRA! *Cry comically*"

"Taking two hot Nakiri cousins for yourself… How wonderful… *Grin perversely*"

"Slick move! If only it could be me… *Sigh*"

To be fair, Urara herself was surprised to see the stakes. She wouldn't have guessed that Yukihira Souma and Nakiri Alice were close, close enough for him to be able to bet with her name. And it was even more surprising that they were able to casually demand something so… mundane from Nakiri Erina. But it made it all the more exiciting.

"So, without further ado, let's commence this shokugeki!"

As she announced that, staffs from the shokugeki bureau, clad in black, suddenly ran up to the podium and delivered the ingredients belonging to both chefs. They did so swiftly and professionally. On Ikumi's side, a large man pushed a huge covered object up the stage while on Souma's side, another man brought a covered tray and put it on the table in his station.

"The theme for tonight is Don! And the restriction is, the dish has to use meat, more specifically beef! As expected of Yukihira, he's not afraid to challenge his opponent of their own specialties. And now, let us see the main ingredients prepared by the contestants!"

The staff theatrically pulled the cover off at the same time. The huge object on Ikumi's side was apparently a stainless meat hanger. On it, hung a large cut of an A5 grade beef. It was an amazing display, it shone and sparkled in the light, and the juiciness was so apparent that you can tell just by sight. A5 grade was really that magnificent.

Meanwhile, the tray on Souma's side was revealed to be a beef fillet pack bought from the supermarket, with a huge red sticker saying "35% OFF!" on it. It wasn't unexpected. Usually, the audience would laugh at such a thing. However, Souma had proved times and times again that the quality of the material doesn't limit him. After all, who could possible dare to dismiss him for using discounted meat after he had defeated the Italian Cuisine RS' president's handmade pasta using instant pasta?

"There it is again! Yukihira's famous tendency to use mediocre materials! His special ability, 'Transmutation! Truly befitting of his alias, the 'Transmuter of Love'. Will he be able to earn his 100th victory or will his streak finally broken by the meat master? Let us see!"

"Hmm… A truly unique nickname, isn't it? Transmuter of love." The first judge commented.

"Oh, you'll see its meaning soon, Hideyoshi-san. I have judged one of his shokugeki before. It's a truly fitting name if you see how he works. If I remember it right, Hanamori-san over here had judged Yukihira Souma's shokugeki at least three times. Perhaps he could explain better." The second judge gestured at the third judge.

"Very well, Oogata-san. How much do you know about medieval alchemy, Hideyoshi-san?" The third judge asked.

"Hmm… It's the pursuit of transmuting lesser, unvaluable metals into noble, valuable ones using transmutation, am I right?"

"Indeed. As the name suggests, that boy, Yukihira Souma, has the ability to transmute low-class ingredients into high-class dishes."

"Wow. That would be impressive if it's true. What about that 'love' part. It's a bit strange for a chef's alias."

"You'll see soon." The third judge assured with a smirk.

And see he did. The explosion of love in Souma's cooking.

/

Eyeing her opponent's cheap meat, Mito Ikumi gulped nervously. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he that he was mocking her. However, she knew better. And she could remember Erina-sama's words to her earlier before the match.

" _Ikumi, try your best but do not put too much pressure on yourself, alright? I would not be upset if you lose this one."_ Her mistress had said.

" _Don't worry, Erina-sama. I will win this!"_ Of course, Ikumi's pride made her voice that declaration. She will show Erina-sama that she can win, that she was worthy of being at her side.

As she prepared her A5 grade meat, she could hear many impressed exclamations from both the crowd and the audience. She smirked in satisfaction. The meat that she used that day was the best of the best, A5 grade. And moreover, she personally requested her father to HANDPICK the best one of the available A5 graded meat in stock at that time. No matter how good Yukihira was, the sheer difference in the quality of the ingredient was just too far apart. There's no way he could have won. With that in mind, she confidently presented her dish to the judges after she was finished.

"I present you 'A5 Japanese Beef Roti Don'!"

She smirked at Yukihira who was still finalizing his dish. She thought he would be too immersed in his cooking and would be oblivious to his surroundings, but to her surprise, he paused his work and calmly watched while the judges judged her cooking. She widened her eyes but quickly regained composure. Respect. That was what he symbolized with that action. He respected her enough to at least pay heed to what the judges think about her cooking. She was pleased. Although Ikumi was confident that she would win at that point, she could feel herself having the same respect toward Yukihira.

"OOOOHHHH! So this is A5 grade meat!" The first judge shouted.

"Amazing…. It's so tender that you can almost drink it!" The second judge added.

"And it isn't only the ingredient. The preparation behind this dish is completely no joke either!" The third judge finalized.

"As expected of the A5 grade beef. And not only that, the best meat is also prepared by the best meat handler around, the meat master herself. The judges could only sing praises!" Urara commented.

The crowd went wild hearing the overly positive comments from all the judges. Ikumi smiled toward Yukihira, as if challenging him. 'Beat that!' her look said. As if taking her challenge, he gave her a smirk of his own, and put a finishing touch to his dish before bringing it towards the judges.

"It's a 'Chaliapin Steak Don'. Oagari yo!"

The presentation was adequate, but nowhere near as impressive as the roti don from earlier. To be fair, plating was not Souma's front point although he was at least decent at it. He could make a presentable dish, but he wasn't that good at detailed aesthetics. The judges however were looking forward to tasting the tame-looking dish. Having tasted Souma's cooking before, the second and third judge knew already the level that they could expect from the cooking. While the first judge was really curious after hearing a lot from the other judges.

"Let's try it then." The first judge said.

And so, they took a first bite. They didn't say anything. They didn't comment. They didn't visibly react either. What they did, was taking another spoonful. And another. And another. And another. And they kept doing so with an increasing fervor after each bite.

"WOAAHHH! LOOK AT THE JUDGES CHUGGING THEIR DISH DOWN! Yukihira Souma strikes again. Compared to that, look at Mito Ikumi's dish!" Urara pointed.

Ikumi widened her eyes as she realized that her dish had only been half-eaten. The meat fully eaten, but there's a lot of leftover rice on each plate. As opposed to that, the judges had already finished Yukihira's don to the last grain of rice in a very short time. And as soon as they were done, the first judge suddenly slammed his fist against the table.

"LET'S VOTE! Let's do it right now!" He urged the other judges. To which they easily agreed.

After seeing the screen glowed with (3-0) for Yukihira Souma, Ikumi fell on her knees.

"And there you go! The match results in a landslide victory for Yukihira Souma! This also marks as a milestone victory for him. Let us give a grand applause for his 100th consecutive victory!"

"No way… How could this be possible… It was only discounted supermarket meat, right? No matter how good he is… It's just impossible to beat my A5 grade beef…"

"You're correct, Mito-san. It is impossible no matter how skilled the chef is if you put it like that." Souma walked towards her with a plate in hand.

"If you chose steak as the theme, there's no way I can beat your A5 grade and impressive thermal sense with cheap meat. However, it's don. And your own strength becomes your weakness. Your A5 beef is so overpowering that the rice pales in comparison. I made use of the harmony between the rice and the meat. So although my meat pales from yours, it gives my dish a better overall taste than yours. Try it for yourself if you don't mind to. I made an extra portion for you." Souma explained and handed her another plate of Chaliapin Steak Don.

Ikumi hesitantly reached out to the plate and held the spoon in hand. She was reluctant, but she was also really curious how it would taste. She wanted to taste for herself the dish that defeated her easily despite the ingredient disadvantage. So she took a bite. After carefully chewing it and swallowing, she soon took another. And another. And another. She couldn't stop. She didn't realize that she had been crying until she felt the chilly wet sensation on her cheeks as her tears trickled.

"I don't actually know anything, but being the heiress of the Mito family should at least put you under some pressure, right? Maybe I wrong, but that's what I thought when I saw how hard you tried to be the best and win. I was like that too once. The thing is… We can't always be the best in everything. There's always someone better than you at something. But that also mean there's always someone we can do better than in everything." Souma was reminded when he first found out about his father's past. He had put a lot of pressure on himself at that point, wanting to surpass his father's seemingly endless achievements. But he had graduated from that. So, it was his turn to help his kouhai graduate as well.

Ikumi could only keep eating while she listened. Her flow of tears didn't stop. And Yukihira pierced through her insecurity with ease. It was as if he could read her mind. He was on point with what she was thinking.

"But I know that reality isn't that nice. In the end, there will always be people who have a lot of expectations on you. People who you don't want to disappoint. But even after giving your best, you often find yourself still failing. Make you wonder how fair the world is, doesn't it?" Souma asked melancholically.

Having finished the dish, she put the plate down and could only stare at the ground, thinking about how true Yukihira's word had been. But then, she was enraptured with a sudden transition in Souma's visage. A quick morph from an expression of lament to that of joy. With a brilliant gleam in his golden iris, he smiled fearlessly. It was captivating.

"But when you're going through a raging storm that's seemingly impossible to breach, you will find it easier to bear if you smile all the way through."

Her tears came overflooding once again. But that time, it wasn't from lamentation. It was tears of freedom. The tears that one would shed when one finally saw a light after being lost in the darkness all this time. She still didn't know how long she still had to go on. But at the very least, she knew right then which direction she was supposed to go on.

In the VIP observation room, Nakiri Alice nodded approvingly while Nakiri Erina closed her eyes resignedly.

/

In a luxurious condominium at the upper part of Tootsuki, sat a young man in front of the television in his living room. The man known as 'The Knight of the Round Table' watched interestedly at the shokugeki being shown in the television. Usually, when he had his rare leisure time after finishing the paperwork share of both the first seat's and the second seat's, courtesy of a damned rare ingredient master, he would rest in his condominium and spend his time watching sport feeds.

However, he found something catching his eyes from the school channel when he casually skimmed through the channels. The 100th shokugeki of the rumored transfer student. Tsukasa Eishi was not one to mind other people's business usually. But after hearing that the transfer student had been compared to HIM by Chapelle-sensei no less, he had become interested in him.

After he finished watching the spectacular performance, he felt a coursing excitement that he hadn't felt in a very long time. It was an amazing display. The cheap supermarket meat achieved a neat victory over the A5 grade meat. It was like watching a wimpy-looking boxing underdog delivering a clean knockout to the defending champion with a single jab. Eishi etched to know more about that boy.

'Yukihira Souma… Just who in the world are you?'


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"You, the red haired boy at the back!"

Souma pointed at himself confusedly.

"Not you, the one behind you. You're expelled!"

As the name suggests, the training camp from hell was really harsh. The boy wearing the citrus-scented perfume found out about that fact firsthand. Under the hand of the magician of légume, he served as the first example of that the training camp would be like. Observing the occurrence, Souma couldn't bring himself to disagree fully with the former first seat of the 79th generation. Although he felt reluctant and still thought that it was harsh, but it's true that a chef must maintain his/her professionalism all the time.

Looking at the line of alumni, Souma found himself excited. What challenges would those amazing people present him with. And he was not disappointed. Soon, they were called off to their respective group and was led to their examination place right away.

It seemed that the groups were randomized. As he was taken to a room with kitchen sets prepared, he realized that the test will be taken in pairs judging from the number of students in the room and the number of kitchen counters. Souma skimmed for any familiar face in the crowd. He recognized a few people from some of his classes. But none of them was the kind of partner he was looking for. With no offense to them, Souma would want someone who can actually keep up with him. But with only less than three months of studying, he still hadn't known that many people. So he supposed he could use the chance to know some new people. But he would have to find someone who's not going to go anywhere soon. Someone with skills. Unless, if the pairing is randomized also. He hoped not, or he hoped he will get lucky in the pairing.

"Good morning everyone. I hope you're ready for our session. My name is Inui Hinako."

A beautiful woman with long black hair stood in front of them. Second seat of the 79th generation, owner of the Japanese Restaurant, Kirinoya. Souma had been to her restaurant before as a part of his field trips. Although he might not look like it, Yukihira Jouichirou was stinking rich from cooking in various places worldwide and the myriads of competitions he had won in his youth. And so, Souma reaped the reward by eating in fancy and famous places all over the world with his dad whenever they go on a trip, usually during Souma's school holiday. And Souma could tell from experience, Inui Hinako was no joke.

"In this session, you will work as pairs. You are free to choose anyone you want as your partner, as long as they agree of course. Keep in mind that if you leech of your partner, even if you pass this session, you'll just fall short in the near future." She smiled kindly, but behind that smile was a subtle yet intimidating threat.

"And now, I'll give you 10 minutes to find your partner. The number of students in this room is set to be even, so all of you should have your partner."

With that, Hinako sat down relaxedly and started to snack on some crackers. As the people around him frantically looked around and searched for their partner, Souma calmly stood with his arms crossed and scanned the room once more carefully. And then, his eyes landed on someone in particular. A handsome dark skinned youth with white hair. He was standing calmly, leaning against the kitchen counter. It was as if he didn't particularly care who his partner would be. No, that's not it. He was confident that he would pass even though he got the last remaining partner, the reject of the class.

Souma made the first move and approached him silently. As he neared, the white haired boy noticed his presence and calmly asserted him.

"Excuse me. My name is Yukihira Souma. Would you mind to be my partner?" Souma asked politely.

"I don't think there any first year that doesn't know your name, Yukihira Souma." He commented. "And I have no objection in being your partner. My name is Hayama Akira."

"Well then, Hayama-san, yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"

"Kochira koso."

Just after they were done with formalities and ethics, Souma was suddenly confronted by a blond, foreign looking boy. He was glaring right at Souma and stood very close. Seeing something unpleasant brewing, Akira wisely stepped away and didn't get involved.

"You! Yukihira Souma!" The blond boy pointed his finger at Souma's face.

"Umm…. May I help you?" Souma asked confusedly.

"My name is Takumi Aldini, defender of the name Trattoria Aldini, a diner just like yours. I hereby challenge you to a match!" The blond boy proclaimed.

"Umm… I'm not sure what match is it that you want. But if it's a cooking match, shouldn't you send me a shokugeki challenge letter like everyone else instead of confronting me in public?" Souma subtly advised.

"Hahahaha! You're so lame, nii-chan." A big guy who must have been the blond's brother laughed as the blond flushed in embarrassment.

"Shut up, Isami! Stop laughing!" He flailed around futilely. But his little brother kept on snickering.

"Anyway, I've just come to warn you. Of course, I will send a proper shokugeki challenge to you later. That was my original plan, yes. I fully intended to do that from the start."

Souma wasn't sure whether the blond was trying to convince Souma or trying to convince himself… Either way, he was relieved when the blond left promptly with the last words of "Remember me, Yukihira Souma!" And it would have been cool if he didn't bump into the kitchen counter on his way, making his brother started to laugh and tease him again.

Souma sighed as it was finally over. Looking at Akira who just stood through the whole thing, Souma felt a little bit guilty.

"Sorry for that, Hayama-san. My challengers could be… eccentric sometimes."

"It's fine. By the way, I've been wanting to ask you something, Yukihira." Akira didn't lose any of his calm.

"Yes? What is it, Hayama-san?" Souma was quite intrigued.

"You didn't choose me randomly. You carefully observed everyone in the room and approached me purposely. Why is that?" Akira asked with curiosity.

It was probably true that Akira was the best in that group, not counting Souma since Akira didn't really know how far the red haired boy's capabilities go. But could he possible scout people's skills with just a glance? Somehow, Akira doubt it. Was it luck then? Or was it his appearance? He was curious.

"Ah, actually that is… Hmm… You can call it gut feeling I guess. You see, I have a strange skill of spotting cooking talent in people. I don't think it's that credible or that it's always 100% right, but I've always gone with my feelings I guess." Souma admitted. Although he said that, in reality, his gut feelings had been almost always true. Perhaps about 90-95% right all the time. Like when he met Alice and Ryo ages ago. He recognized their skills immediately. Like with Tadokoro Megumi… Oh yes, that was one hell of a catch. And thinking about it, he also remembered someone in particular. Nakiri Erina's secretary, who was her name again? Arato Hisako? Souma also felt some good vibes from her. Not to mention most of the polar star residents and some others.

"I see…" Akira said, unimpressed. On the outside at least, he was actually quite impressed.

"That's it, time's up! I hope all of you have found your pair already!" Hinako suddenly announced.

Immediately, the chatter and whispers quieted down.

"Alright. Let's keep the instructions simple. You have three hours to present me a dish. It can be anything as long as it's Japanese cuisine. Any question?"

"How about the ingredients?" One sharp chef realized that there wasn't anything important in the pantry. Only some basic stuff, but no real meat or vegetable or anything really.

"Ah, yes. I forgot to tell you. The area around this building has been barricaded. You can use anything that you find here. Oh, and by the way, you're welcome to use the fishing poles in the tool shed. Happy hunting!" Hinako sent them off with a clap. Of course, the majority of people rushed out immediately, snatching a fishing pole in panic.

"Well, what should we make, Hayama-san? Do you have any specialty in particular?" Souma asked Akira calmly.

"I specialize in spices." Akira answered.

"I see. That would be great. I think the mountains around here have lots of herbs and spice plants. Can I leave that to you?"

"Of course. What are you going to do in the meantime?"

"I'll look around for the main ingredients. Perhaps there's something aside from fish."

"Very well."

And so, they departed after a short but fruitful discussion. Souma decided to look around and started from near the building itself. While most people were already gone to the river, Souma went behind the building to see if there's anything there. To his surprise and delight, there was a small barn with some livestock. He noticed that there were rabbits, ducks, and chickens. Checking out the garden behind the barn, Souma scanned at some vegetables and trees planted there. Spotting one tree in particular, Souma knew what he was going to prepare.

/

With nothing particular in mind, Akira scanned the mountains for any general herbs and spices that he thought would be useful. Already accustomed to such activity, it didn't take him very long to collect everything he needed. As he walked back to the kitchen, he wondered what Yukihira Souma was doing. Usually, Akira wouldn't so easily trust his partner in any cooking practicum. He would at least make sure his partner knew what they're doing, even if Akira had to spell out the letters one by one. But Yukihira was skilled, that much he was sure. So he guessed it's safe to trust him.

When he reentered the kitchen, he noticed that it was desolate. Only a few people had made it back. And most of the people present never left anyway, opting to do some preparations while their partner did the ingredient gathering. Akira went to his station and took a stone grinder from the utensil rack on the way. He checked the time to see that they had about two hours left. Seeing as Yukihira hadn't make it back yet, he started grinding.

Half an hour later, he had almost finished grinding his spices. Looking at the clock to see that their time was already under half, he started to worry a little. But it was quickly dissipated as he saw Yukihira entering the kitchen. He noticed that he was carrying a sack over his shoulder and a bag in his hand.

"Yo! Sorry for the wait, it took me some time to gather all this." Souma casually greeted.

"What do you bring."

Souma answered by handing him the bag. Looking inside, Akira saw… almond? And after Yukihira put his sack on the kitchen counter, Akira noticed that the sack was moving. Removing the sack, a tied up live chicken could be seen. Ah, so there is something besides fish here. Quite impressive for Yukihira to find a chicken. But what's the almond for?

"I'm thinking of making almond crusted chicken. What do you think, Hayama-san?"

"Hmm… That's fine I think, seeing that you have got us the almond."

"Okay. I don't really have any idea yet for the seasoning though. Can I leave that to you, Hayama-san?"

Akira put his hand on his chin and thought for a moment. Almond crusted chicken… chicken strips coated with almond flour, and then baked. Its strong point is its crunchiness on the outside and tender juiciness on the inside. To capitalize on that… He got it. He knew just the correct spices to produce a strong overpowering taste on the crust that will be mellowed by the soft flesh inside, creating a perfect harmony. And of course, it would generate an impressive aroma as well, his specialty.

"Okay. I have an idea." Akira replied confidently.

"Perfect. Can you please grind the almond too, Hayama-san? Seeing as you're still using the grinder anyway. I'm going to prepare the chicken."

Akira nodded and went back to grinding. He had been so adept at grinding spices to the point that he didn't really need to pay much attention to what he's doing. He had committed most of the process into muscle memory. And so, he intriguingly watched at Souma. Akira had watched Souma's 100th shokugeki. Although at first when he heard the rumors about a genius first year he didn't really care, he was curious enough to attend the match after hearing that it would be the 100th consecutive victory should Yukihira win. And his opponent at that time was quite formidable as well. And yet, Yukihira put out a fine performance. And his style of cooking, Akira had never seen anything like it. One thing to be sure, it was captivating. Transmuter of Love… He couldn't help but think that it's a fitting name.

And Akira wasn't disappointed. After tying his headband and getting ready, Souma was in action immediately. Using a butcher knife, he swiftly but gently beheaded the chicken in one slash. It was peculiar how he could make decapitation look so endearing. And then with extraordinary skills and elegant movement, he butchered the whole chicken in a flash.

'So fast…' Akira thought as Souma finished making clean fillets from the chicken. Unknown to them, Inui Hinako had also observed Souma's performance with interest from the front of the room.

At first, he thought that he would have to wait for Yukihira to finish preparing the chicken after he grinded the almond. However, it turned out he was the one lagging behind. Although just by a few seconds margin, Akira still felt really bad. His workload was lighter, yet he finished later. To be fair, he was too intrigued by Yukihira's performance and didn't focus completely on his task. But that's all the more reason that it was a mistake on his part.

Moving on, they quickly prepared the flour to coat the chicken. Akira mixed in a few spices in the almond flour and also prepared more spices to put on the chicken after it's baked. And Souma handled the chicken completely. As a side garnish, they took a little lettuce and tomatoes from the pantry. After everything was done, Akira could relax while he waited for the chicken to be baked, temperature and time regulated by Souma.

/

"Aigamo Grilled with Spices. Buon appetite." Takumi gestured to his presented dish.

"Wow, so you managed to find a duck. Impressive. I've been getting sick of fish as well." Inui Hinako smiled pleasantly.

"Of course. Apparently, there're quite a lot of stuff around here if you look around carefully." Takumi Aldini replied half-smugly.

"I shall have a taste then."

Hinako took a bite and let out a sigh of happiness. It was great.

"Alright, you pass with flying colors." Hinako praised, making the Aldini brothers cheer with joy.

"Grazie!" Takumi bowed before leaving for his station with his brother.

The Aldini brother's dish was very nice… To be honest, Hinako had been quite tired of eating the same thing over and over again. It's not only because all the other dishes had the same main ingredient, but it was also because their subpar skills, resulting in a mediocre taste that feels the same even though the chefs and presentations are different.

Looking at the clock, Hinako was relieved that there was only about 15 minutes more to the session. She was looking forward to go back into her room at Tootsuki resort and take a nice long bath. She had judged almost all the students in the room. Some passed just barely, and most of them failing. The remaining ones were still cooking or given up already since there was barely any time left. She was actually quite disappointed in the 92nd generation of Tootsuki. Out of all the students in her class, are the Aldini brothers the only one with potensial? Or perhaps she was just unlucky and there are actually many promising students in the other classes.

After judging another 3 dishes after the Aldini's, Hinako rubbed her tired eyes. The dishes were adequate, but she was already quite tired of the same mediocracy, so she failed them all. Perhaps she was quite a bit unfair, but after tasting that duck, she totally lost the little appetite left she had on fish. At that point, even if Shinomiya himself cooked her fish, she would have declined to eat it. Looking forward to wrapping things up, she hoped to get it over with quickly.

But apparently, there is still another dish being presented to her with 5 minutes left on the clock. And to her amusement, she noticed that the plate was delivered in a cloche. Moreover, it was a glass cloche, so it actually didn't hide anything. That's one of the main reason why the glass cloche is rarely used. Since the cloche's purpose is to make a surprise out of a dish, a transparent one defeats the purpose. Well, who was she to question another chef's aesthetic sense? Putting that aside, after seeing the inside, Hinako felt her appetite being galvanized again.

"What is this? It doesn't look like fish."

"It's Almond Crusted Chicken… With Spices. Oagari yo!" Souma smirked as he added the last part. Akira stood impassively beside him.

"Wonderful! Finally, something not fish! I'm so eating this. Can I open it already?" Hinako asked excitedly. She had forgotten about it, but then she remembered the red haired boy who butchered the chicken flawlessly. But it was simple… So simple actually. Too plain… Too common… Even though it might taste decent, she doubted it would be anything quite exemplary. Well, she would pass them anyway for being the only one not using fish. As long as the taste is not horrible.

"Be my guess." Akira replied politely.

As soon as the lid was opened, Hinako was blown away. The whole room was blown up. Every single person left in the room was instantly alert. Of course they would. After all, a bomb had just detonated… A fragrance bomb that violently ravaged the room's interior. There wasn't a single entity in the room who wasn't deeply impressed.

"What is this!? The aroma is incredible. This is beyond…" 'even my skill' Hinako finished n her thought although she didn't say it.

"Tell me, how was your workload division?" Hinako asked the two chefs.

"My name is Yukihira Souma. I prepared the chicken and Hayama-san prepared the spices for the seasoning." Souma gestured to Akira. "So full credit of the aroma goes to him."

"Amazing! Hayama, isn't it?" Hinako asked interestedly at Akira.

"Yes, ma'am. My name is Hayama Akira."

"Tell me, how do you create this?" Hinako prompted.

"I have a special nose that is extremely sensitive. For instance, I can tell that you used lemon-scented shampoo from the smell of your hair. And I can smell kaki no tane crackers on your hand." He explained calmly. He didn't emit arrogance or humility. He just explained it calmly and confidently.

Considering they were standing a few meters apart, it wasn't just an impressive feat. But it should be downright IMPOSSIBLE. What a frightening ability. Hinako feared what the dark skinned chef would become one day. And so, she stabbed a strip of chicken with a fork and put it into her mouth while it's still warm.

 _*Crunch*_

The reverberating sound sent shivers down the spine of every person in the room. Hinako's eyes lit up and she kept chewing.

"Amazing… Despite its simplicity, it manages to produce a truly sophisticated taste. The crunchiness of the outer coating… And the tenderness of the flesh inside… The unbearable spiciness that is mellowed by the bland flesh, creating a perfect balance. This is… Sublime!"

Hinako was truly scared. Scared might not be the right word. But she couldn't describe her feeling at that moment with any other word. Scared had the closest meaning. Apparently, the red-haired boy's previous performance of knife work was not for bluff. To turn a simply baked almond chicken into something so incredible… To turn a simple afternoon-snack-level dish into one on par with gourmet dish, that boy's really something else.

"Hayama Akira and Yukihira Souma, isn't it? You pass! With fireworks!" She smiled at the two chefs.

"Osomatsu!"

And so, with the session concluded, people began to leave the room steadily. Some with excitement and joy for passing, some with lackluster spirit to pack their belongings. Inui Hinako was very excited that she had two such talented chefs in her class. The Aldini brothers were also great, but this pair had a higher caliber. Moreover… They paired TOGETHER. Complementing each other's strength, they produced a true work of art. Even Hinako herself would cower if she was challenged to best that dish. Although she might have been able to do so, her chances would not be that good. She would bet her money anytime on the two entering the elite ten council. Especially the red haired boy, she would not be surprised if he became the first seat. With that thought, she left the examination room to rejoin her fellow alumni.

/

Most people thought that after a harsh session that _wiped out_ many of their comrades, they would be given some rest when they were at back at the hotel. Well, one could dream of course. Of course when one is dreaming, cooking 50 servings of steak for hotel guest with tired bones and sore muscles somehow never comes to picture. It if was a dream, then it would be called a nightmare… For those lacking in constitution of course.

For Yukihira Souma, it was an easy day. The fast-paced and demanding long streak of dinner rush at Shokujidokoro Yukihira was far more straining in his opinion. Looking at his peer, he noticed that most were chefs accustomed to cooking in controlled environment where they would be judged after being given a solid and lengthy time limit. So whereas most of the other chefs were frantic and panicked, Souma breezed through 50 servings like it was nothing… or so he would have said to look cool. But unfortunately, he was already quite tired from chasing a chicken around and climbing an almond tree.

He didn't perform at his prime, but he still retained his professionalism. So it was not surprising that he finished his 50th serving before anyone else in his cluster. Looking forward to a good bath, he went back to his room to grab a towel and a change of clothes and walked toward the baths. But he noticed that someone else was also walking towards the bath from the opposite direction.

"Yo, Nakiri!" He greeted casually, to which Erina scowled.

"Yukihira-san, please refrain from addressing me so casually. Although I acknowledge your skills, it doesn't mean that we're anything more than acquaintances." Erina said distastefully.

"Ah, my apology Nakiri-san. I must have been quite light-headed from the tough day." Souma chose the safe way. He was in no way a coward, but he found it best to not deliberately pick a fight with a Nakiri. And a female one nonetheless.

"That is understandable. So I take it you are finished with your 50 servings. Quite impressive."

"Indeed. I see that the same goes for you, Nakiri-san. You are most formidable." He matched her pace and threw the compliment back at her.

"Of course." She scoffed.

"Well then, if you will excuse me, I think I will be going first." Souma said as he walked towards the male side.

"Oh, and there's going to be a small party in my room. Its number 306 and we have cards and drinks. Alice told me to invite you if I meet you. You don't have to come if you don't wish to, Nakiri-san. I'm just fulfilling my role as the messenger."

And with that, Souma entered the bath leaving a dumbstruck blonde behind him. He still reveled at the blonde's expression. It was so right out of the bat that she couldn't have expected it and didn't know how to react. Priceless. To be honest, Alice never told him to invite Erina. It was pure at the spur impulse on his part. But that's no problem at all. It's not like Erina would come anyway. Even if she would, he could just tell Alice beforehand what he had done. Alice would have no problem with it. In fact, Souma was sure that Alice would be delighted at his action.

That said, the dumbstruck look was plastered on his face right then, as if some mystique karma was at work. Whatever he was expecting, he didn't expect the ripe muscle of a professional body-builder stretching when he entered the men's bath. The huge men however, noticed his presence and didn't look disoriented in the slightest.

"Oh." Doujima Gin looked at Souma interestedly.

"Well, hello there… Doujima-san isn't it?" Souma quickly recomposed himself.

"Yes. And you are?"

"Yukihira Souma, sir."

"Haha, you don't need to be so formal." Doujima waved lightly at him.

Souma's stiff posture eased in relief. It was honestly tiring for him to act formal all the time. It was because he was actually a pretty down to earth guy.

/

During the training camp, they were all assigned with double rooms. So each person had a roommate. But it was randomized though. However, coincidentally, Souma was paired with Ryo. After Souma went back from his bath, he found that Ryo had just finished. Ryo was going to the bath as well, so Souma was left behind in a peaceful solitude.

Souma lied on the soft bed tiredly. It was very comfortable… The hotel bed was by far better than his own at Yukihira or at Polar Star. It was on par with Alice's bed though. As he rested his eyes, he thought about his bath earlier. Doujima Gin was interesting. He was actually a nice guy who's easy to get along with. Of course, Souma had already some idea about how Gin was like from his father's stories. But he didn't tell Gin that he was Jouichirou's son. All in due time, he guessed. But Souma really did enjoy their casual chat about nothing important in particular… Until they were interrupted by that blonde Italian.

At some point, Souma dozed off. But he didn't get his handsome sleep. He was rudely awakened not long after, to his displease. At that point, he was NOT happy to see a beautiful pair of scarlet eyes, pristine dirty blonde nearing white hair, and gorgeous one sided bang, accompanied with that trademark goofy grin.

"Alice…" Souma glared and didn't sound pleased at all.

"Hello, Souma-kun!" She replied cheerfully with that grin still plastered on her face.

Souma sighed resignedly. He was not going to get anymore sleep anytime soon.

"How did you get in?"

"Oh, I meet Ryo-kun on his way to the bath and he gave me his key."

And so, Souma had to give up on sleep. He went on to entertain Alice because that was the only thing he could do at that moment. Not long after that, Ryo joined them. To their surprise… He brought back someone.

"Ano… Good evening…" She bowed politely to Alice and Souma.

"Tadokoro?" Souma called with surprise.

"Ara, who is this? Aren't you the one who partnered with Ryo-kun during Chapelle-sensei's first class. You know her, Souma-kun?" Alice asked interestedly.

"Yeah, she's at the same dorm as me."

"She happened to be my partner earlier in today's session too… So I invited her to come along." Ryo stated passively.

Meanwhile, Alice walked toward the girl and stood at only inches apart. Then, she stared at Megumi at really CLOSE proximity, making the latter nervous and uncomfortable.

"WOW! Aren't you just adorable? Nice catch, Ryo-kun!" Alice gave Ryo a thumbs up.

However, Megumi was shaking.

"Mind the personal space, Alice-chan! You're scaring her!" Souma reprimanded.

And who would have thought. But the four got along well. As soon as Megumi was comfortable with Alice, she was able to fit in with no problem. They talked and laughed. And since they hadn't had dinner yet after the 50 servings challenge, Megumi volunteered to cook for them. Luckily, their room had a small kitchen, good enough to serve their purpose.

And yeah, Souma was not disappointed. Her dish was really great. His talent sensor really got it right. Alice was also loving it dearly. Even Ryo couldn't help but put on his bandana after one bite, before proceeding to devour it with vigor. Her cooking was so warm… It was so heartfelt and fluffy. It might not hold the same candle to Alice's sharp precision or Ryo's powerful flavor. But she made the people to eat her dish truly happy. It's a peaceful kind of bliss, it makes people adore her.

They were about to bring out the cards when there was a sudden knock on the door. Since both Ryo and Souma were too lazy to rise from their seat, they both pressured Alice to open the door. And so, Alice relented and answered the door.

"Erina?"

"Yukihira-kun said that you invited me to play cards. And since I don't have anything better to do anyway for the night, I don't mind indulging you." She said perfectly and fluently. Too perfect actually. Almost as if the line was… practiced? That cannot be, right?

Alice seemed confused for a second. Souma cursed inwardly. He forgot to tell Alice about Erina. But Alice, praise that brilliant brain, caught up immediately and recovered from that one second misstep.

"Ah yes. Come in, Erina. You too, Hishoko-chan, don't be shy!"

"My name is not Hishoko!" A flustered looking Arato Hisako made her presence known from behind Erina's back.

Souma surprisingly got along with Hisako fast. Erina and Alice bickered the whole night, usually with Alice annoying Erina one way or another, but Souma could see that there's still some kind of bond between them despite that. Megumi and Ryo were also enjoying themselves. At one point after a particular loss, Ryo wore his bandana and decimated the next game. But Erina was very impressive in almost any card game. She still held the most victories by the end of the night. But they could all agree, that it was really fun.

/

 **A/N : I already have an idea for after the camp until the end of the Autumn Election, but I currently have no idea what to do with Shinomiya on the second day...**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I have a new beta reader now. I'm really thankful to IsaacAberton for volunteering to proofread this story. Hopefully, this story can become better with less grammatical mistakes. And I'm really thankful for all the suggestions too regarding Shinomiya.**

Chapter 4

Another day, another challenge, as he walked to the kitchen to where his next training session will be held, he almost regrets sleeping so late the previous night, but it was actually really fun though, so yeah, almost. He yawned as he entered along with other chefs. That morning during breakfast, their schedule was given to them and once again, the groups were randomized. Souma didn't know why they would randomize every single session. Oh well, who was he to question such things.

He saw that the examiner for his next session was none other than Shinomiya Kojirou himself. Souma sighed. It was more appropriate to call it a pressure test rather than a training session, especially since those who failed would be expelled immediately. It's not even funny to call such a harsh series of tests as 'training', Yeah, Tootsuki logic.

He was, however, grateful when he saw Megumi walk in amongst a mob of unfamiliar faces.

'Ah, perfect. If this is a group assignment, I will just pair with Tadokoro… But yet again… Maybe not.'

From the number of contestants in the room, to the number of kitchen counters available, and the quantity of the ingredients at the back pantry, Souma could already deduce that it would be an individual assignment. Well, it's fine either way for him.

When it was one minute from the scheduled time to begin, Kojirou rose from his table in front of the room and walked to the entrance door. He stood there waiting while staring at his watch. 8:59:07.

'Wait… Don't tell me he's planning to…'

When the clock stroke 09:00:00, Kojirou closed the door harshly and locked it in place. Unfortunately, a pair of students happened to be dawdling around just a bit and arrived just in time for Kojirou to slam the door in their faces. Souma could swear that he spotted a sinister smirk of triumph on the examiner's face the split second that he stared at the pair of students who were late before slamming the door.

'Is this guy for real…' Souma would have sweat dropped if he could, unfortunately, such supernatural power to stimulate the eccrine glands at will at the most comical moment is just reserved for animes, mangas, and other forms of fiction. So yeah, he could not sweat drop.

"Now that everyone is accounted for, let us begin the challenge." Kojirou addressed the room as he walked back to his station, ignoring the faint banging from the locked door.

"9 Vegetable Terrine. You are to recreate my dish within two hours of the time limit. The recipe is written in front. Do it adequately, and you will pass, you may start now."

His instructions were clear, simple, and short, but the pure charisma from his figure made such simple instructions to be terrifying. Most of the other chefs immediately rushed and panicked while unsubtly cursed for getting the worst luck in their examiner randomization. Souma noticed the examiner twitched as he heard the unsubtle complaints about himself, but he didn't say anything and pretended to not to hear anything, as expected from a pro.

Souma quickly grabbed his ingredients, easily finishing first although he did it without any rush, but as he arrived back at the counter, a voice he recognized suddenly addressed the examiner.

"Excuse me, Shinomiya-senpai. I don't mean any offense and I'm really sorry if it is not my place to ask this… but are you aware that some of the cauliflowers are rotten, senpai?" Megumi asked hesitantly. It was clear that she was afraid, but she also seemed to think that it was important enough to risk telling the examiner about it but Kojirou only smirked.

"You have good eyes, and yes, I'm very aware."

Of course, that sentence set off a frenzy. All the students who hadn't got their cauliflower yet rushed frantically, some even pushed others in order to get there first, and so, all the good cauliflowers were gone within seconds, leaving some poor blokes with auto-fails. Souma was not amused. VERY not amused.

"Excuse me, Shinomiya-senpai." Souma raised his hand.

When Kojirou turned to look at his direction, Souma took that as a cue to continue.

"Are you sure that it is appropriate for you to sabotage your employees?" Souma asked.

"Hmph! A good chef should be able to get their ingredients before anyone else, and besides, this is my kitchen. I am the chef here, so it's my rule." Kojirou snapped back.

"That may be so, senpai, but with all due respect, what if your judgement is mistaken?" Souma challenged.

Kojirou stared at Souma at eye level, neither his face or body language showed any amusement whatsoever.

"Do you want to be fired, boy?" He asked with a low volume, but with such malice behind the threat, guaranteeing that he would actually do it should Souma push the matter further.

For what felt like ages, both of them stared at each other, neither willing to relent. The pressure in the room rose superbly and everyone's attentions were directed toward the two. It was a battle of will, it was only a matter of time before one of them would crack, and they knew it. It almost took a full thirty seconds before one finally did.

"Very well, senpai. I won't question you any further. I apologize for my impudence."

"Wise choice."

The other chefs were both disappointed and relieved. They were disappointed that the conflict ended in such an uninteresting way. Knowing Yukihira, they expected him to do something amazing. On the other hand, some thought that it was wise of Yukihira to drop it, after all, it wouldn't be funny for someone as talented as him to be expelled because of a silly matter, and who was to say that if Yukihira pressed the matter further, the examiner's rage wouldn't have escalated and also affected the rest of the room, either way, they cooked and hoped for the best. They still had to think about themselves since their task was not easy in any way.

Souma did not cook like he usually would. If anyone had been paying attention to him, they would totally realize. He chopped the vegetables precisely and perfectly, but without a care. He carelessly tossed a finished batch of ingredient aside and started anew with another ingredient in an effective swiftness. He focused on the dish, on the ingredients,and on the result, he didn't give a damn about anything else.

/

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Pass."

"Fail."

"Fail."

Kojirou judged each of the dishes presented to him with indifference. He didn't offer any positive or negative comments, nor did he visibly react. Actually, it was not because Kojirou was uncaring of his role as an examiner. It's just that no one had presented a dish worthy enough of his comment. Even the ones that passed did that just barely with a lot of amateur mistakes, however, finally a decent one presented itself.

Looking at the girl with braided blue hair, he recognized her as the one who pointed out about the cauliflowers, and so he tasted with interest for the first time that morning.

"Very good. You pass."

Even for such short praise, coming from the magician of legume, it was a great honor, and of course, the chefs across the room expressed their awe with muffled exclamations and whispers. Megumi smiled brightly and thanked the Kojirou sincerely before going back to her station, and so, Kojirou was faced with another round of mediocre dishes that he had to judge without any choice.

"Fail."

"Pass."

"Pass."

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail."

And then, finally he came, someone Kojirou had been looking forward to, the red haired boy.

"What's your name, boy?" Kojirou asked uncharacteristically since he had never asked for any name from the other contestants from the start of the session.

"Yukihira Souma, sir."

Kojirou cut a thin slice of Souma's 9 terrine and took a bite. He chewed for a while and swallowed, then he put his knife and fork down and looked straightly at Souma.

"Let me give you some advice Yukihira Souma, I will not deny that you have a real talent. Later in your third year, you have a good chance of getting the first seat of the elite ten. So, I suggest you to avoid compromising the path to your future. It was wise of you to back down previously. It might be hard for you to accept my ideals right now, but once you are in my position one day, you will understand."

at such a high praise, the whole room could barely hold their excitement, but Souma didn't say anything. Instead, he thought about what Kojirou just said. He bowed politely and went back to his station.

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail."

"Fail."

The exam went on with the success rate marginally lower due to some reason after Souma's turn, but Souma didn't pay any attention to the rest of the exam.

/

It was a long day for Kojirou, apart from that blue haired girl and Yukihira Souma, no one really shined. Well, it was expected for Tootsuki. Amongst all the students, it's expected for the 95% to become stepping stones for the truly brilliant 5%. It was a school with only 10% rate of graduation in just the first year after all. For overall three-years graduation, the rate goes even lower to 1-2% average with only 3-5% at most out of the total students from the start.

Because of that, the sheer strength of the remaining 5% after being tempered by an unforgiving selection become monstrous. That's why there's such thing as the elite ten, the embodiment of those monstrous talents, and Yukihira Souma was one of them. It was a clear path that he can walk on leisurely… If only he had gone straight through the path… but no, there he was, standing stubbornly at Kojirou.

After the session was concluded, Kojirou waited for everyone to evacuate the room, however, it appeared that one person was left behind, and that person didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon. One look at that stubborn face, and Kojirou knew what it was all about.

"Yukihira Souma, why are you still persistent?"

Seeing as Souma didn't answer, Kojirou continued.

"You are still young and naïve, Yukihira. Why don't you take the advice from someone older and wiser than you?" Kojirou pushed again.

But Souma didn't relent that time. While he decided to back down last time during the session, he was fully determined to keep going at that moment.

"Senpai. Please give me 30 minutes." Souma requested simply.

"Huh? What for?" Kojirou asked back with cynical eyes.

"I am aware that you are older, more experienced, and wiser than me senpai. That is why I will talk through my cooking. I am going to remake your terrine. I will make it better than the one I made previously!"

If it was anyone else, perhaps, Kojirou would have laughed at them, brushed them off, or declined their request outright, but he recognized talent when he saw one. Yukihira's terrine previously was impressive. It was still not better than his of course, but it was pretty amazing for a first year. Even Kojirou had to admit that he was not that good when he was still in his first year, and so, that proclamation to make an even better dish intrigued him.

"Yukihira, even if I give you thirty minutes, just what are you hoping to accomplish with that?"

"Please judge my dish with your standard, senpai."

Kojirou was surprised.

"Not as an examiner, but as a chef, and should you approve the dish I'm going to create, then I ask to you reconsider my words. If you still arrive at the same conclusion after reconsidering, it is fully within your rights, but please consider it first. That is all I ask."

Yukihira Souma was interesting… but Kojirou had been lenient enough, although he admitted that it would be interesting, he saw no benefit in humoring Yukihira.

"But if my dish fails to meet your standard, I will accept expulsion immediately, Shinomiya-senpai."

That last part was unexpected. Kojirou saw a burning fire in Yukihira Souma's eyes and knew that it was inevitable. Was Yukihira aware of his own request? To be judged by Kojirou's standard … that means Kojirou would have to compare Yukihira's dish to his own, but with that much determination, the boy was not going to back down. Kojirou would have to put him down by force. It was a shame, but the boy would only benefit more after Kojirou teaches him a lesson about the harsh reality, of course, after the boy had learned his lesson, Kojirou wouldn't expel him. It was a waste for someone as talented as him.

"Very well. You may start now."

as to not waste any time, the boy started.

/

It was different, that was Kojirou's first thought. The way that the boy cooked was different than the way he previously cooked. Contrary to popular opinions about how uncaring he was, he actually paid attention to each and every chef under him. He had to do that no one messed up. It would be a disaster if a mistake went by unnoticed by a chef in his restaurant. That fact, along with Yukihira's outburst made Kojirou pay extra attention to him during the session.

The way he cooked right then was different from the way he cooked previously. Instead of swift precision and cold perfection, it was gentle professionalism and loving execution. The boy didn't add any new ingredient or put any twist to his recipe. He did it just like he did previously, but the difference was how he handled the ingredients and how he carried out the processes. Kojirou could see that the boy put a lot of feelings and sincerity into his cooking. It was certainly unique, but Kojirou failed to see how such amore could make the dish taste better. When it was plated and served before him, Kojirou didn't see any difference at all in the presentation.

"Oagari yo!" Souma said with a smile this time.

Kojirou took hold of a knife and a fork while skeptically scrutinizing the dish, he took a bite. Souma watched with crossed hands as his former examiner chewed and swallowed. He let his cooking talk for himself, at first, Kojirou was silent, he stared at the dish with a blank look. Then, he promptly slammed his hand on the table. It shouldn't be possible… Yet… How come? Souma took the chance to finally speak.

"You said that someone as talented as me should just walk the safe path, but actually, senpai, I'm not really that talented. I just happen to have a really good teacher that helped me to become who I am today." Souma admitted humbly.

Kojirou didn't comment, but he was listening.

"My teacher was great, senpai. He's just as skilled as you are, perhaps even more. He was the one who taught me how to cook since I was only three."

That teacher… He must be amazing to raise someone as good as Yukihira, but Kojirou couldn't see where Yukihira was going with that.

"But I also have ideas, senpai. I have my own opinions, innovations, and incentives. I have always expressed them to my teacher, of course, most of the time, I'm wrong. My teacher who's obviously more skilled than me would almost always know better."

Of course, it was expected. The skill matters most after all. When he was pressured because of his Japanese heritage when he started to climb his way to the top in Paris, Kojirou crushed his adversaries with pure cold skill. Leniency didn't get him anywhere.

"But my teacher has always listened to me. When I get it wrong, he would correct me and explain to me why my idea was not viable. When I criticize him, he would explain why he did that and that it was not a mistake,however, there are some rare cases where I was right, senpai. Perhaps maybe one out of every twenty times, but my teacher listened to all my inputs nonetheless, and that made me respect him even more. Someone as skilled as him, willing to hear out someone who was virtually a nobody that is far below his level." Souma spoke fondly of his teacher, as if it was someone close to him.

"And then I experienced it myself. I had a phase where I thought that I was skilled. It was hard for me to receive critics from the people that I thought were below me. When I invented a new dish in my so-called 'ingenuity' and asked my classmate to try it, she didn't like it, at first, I didn't want to accept it. I thought that my classmate just didn't understand the true art of cooking. After all, I had spent years in the kitchen ahead of her by then." Souma let his rage surface for a moment, a remnant of his old self, a proof of his struggles.

"But I tried to do what my teacher always did. It was hard, it was painful, and it was really humbling, but I found that it only helped my growth when I took account of every inputs given to me, whether they're from a friend, a customer, or anyone else, I believe all of that contributed to my current strength."

Souma then raised his head and looked straight at Kojirou, meeting him in the eye. Souma's eyes didn't challenge Kojirou. His eyes didn't show any aggression or malice, but it also didn't reveal any weakness.

"I'm not so conceited to think that I can make a terrine better than yours, senpai, and quite likely, I'm the one who's in the wrong here since you're wiser and more experienced, however, won't you at least consider, senpai?"

With that last sentence, Souma took off his headband and bowed politely.

"Thank you very much for your time, senpai. If you'll excuse me."

And then he left, leaving Kojirou still frozen, staring at the table with an unreadable expression.

 _"In Paris, this is more to the people's taste."_ Kojirou remembered those words vividly.

" _I believe Monsieur Shinomiya's flavors are a bit too… oriental._ " It hurt.

 _"Well, not that someone who's Japanese would understand."_ Kojirou refused to accept it.

It was too much. At that point, he was at the darkest phase of his life. Kojirou couldn't forget it. The desperation, the feeling of rejection, the incredible pressure… He was in despair. He couldn't take it. He couldn't bear it. Kojirou couldn't hold back his tears as he remembered those times.

'I tried so hard… so… hard… and yet, they didn't understand me… My own staff, my customers, everyone…'

And that was why, he arrived to one conclusion.

' _I can only trust myself. Think even of your staff as enemies!"_

And so, he mercilessly pushed forward. On a knife's edge, he breached through everything. He finally succeeded. His ambition wouldn't be put down that easily, by his power, his talent, and his might, he survived, on that knife's edge. He looked at Yukihira's terrine and involuntarily took another bite. He ate silently, bite by bite, until he finished it. And after that he put his knife and fork down and looked at the ceiling.

"But was that the only way I wonder?"

 _"In Paris, this is more to the people's taste."_

" _I believe Monsieur Shinomiya's flavors are a bit too… oriental._ "

 _"Well, not that someone who's Japanese would understand."_

 _Kojirou looked at his staff patiently and responded._

 _"Will you teach me, then?"_

 _Both of them didn't expect that answer._

 _"M-m-monsieur Shinomiya?" One of them stuttered._

 _"As you said, I'm a foreigner. I admit that I don't know much about the local taste. Would you help me then? Help me to improve our restaurant."_

 _They stiffened for a second, but quickly regained their bearings._

 _"Oui, chef!" They saluted._

 _"Thank you." Kojirou smiled slightly at them._

 _The two staff oddly found their previous dissatisfaction toward their chef gone. They thought that he was just an arrogant 'Japonais', who just happened to have a little talent. They looked at each other and thought the same thing._

 _'We were wrong.'_

Kojirou wiped his tears and wiped his glasses, as he looked back to that defining moment, he wondered whether things would have gone better if he had walked on that path. Well, it didn't really matter anyway, what's done is done.

 _"I'll make your favorite dish for dinner. Let's go home and start it."_

He understood then. Kojirou walked out of the kitchen looking exactly like when he walked in.

'I know what I should do now, madame."

But he walked out a different man.

/

That night, Yukihira Souma couldn't sleep peacefully. He was anxious, of course he was. Despite his outer bravado, he was still a teenage boy at heart. He was aware that he was walking on a very thin line, and so, he reenacted the previous night again to help him forget his worries. He invited Alice and Tadokoro for another card party, but Tadokoro said that she was already tired from the lack of sleep the night before that, so it was just the three of them, like old times.

Of course, he didn't tell any of his friends what actually happened. He even doubted that even Tadokoro knew that he stayed behind after that session. Well, Souma was not the type to dwell in the past. He's really good at moving on, and so he tackled the third day of the exam with the same amount of fighting spirit that he had on the first day. It also helped that no expulsion letter came to him.

The examiner for his third day was Sekimori Hitoshi, a pro sushi chef, and as expected, they were asked to make sushi. Compared to the first and second day, it wasn't very exciting. He didn't find anyone as extremely talented like Hayama, and he didn't have any arguments with the examiner, but Souma found the calmness a nice change of pace. It was an individual assignment. He passed and got high praise, but that was it, by then, not a single student would be surprised at hearing a compliment for Souma's cooking, so it was basically nothing special.

When the evening came, they were gathered one more time. Souma thought that it would be another buffet round, but instead, they were briefed on the real challenge that would happen the next morning. It was a breakfast buffet challenge that required the students to serve at least 200 servings to the guests in order to pass the test. The dish had no restriction other than it has to be an egg dish and suitable for breakfast.

That night, he would have joined his dorm-mates in Marui's room as they previously planned, however, it appeared that the others were too busy preparing for the next morning, and so, he returned to his room planned to settle there. He swiped his card that acted as the room key and opened the door.

*LOUD SNORE*

Okay, maybe not. He closed the door again and changed his mind. It was still too early to sleep and he wanted to relax a little. He doubted that his room would be a suitable place for relaxing with that noise hazard around, as he wandered aimlessly around the hotel, he wondered if he should just follow Ryou's example and call it a day.

But then he got a very INGENIOUS idea. He smirked evilly. Who was it that had always bothered him when he wanted to do nothing but relax?

/

Staying out really late for two consecutive nights took a toll on Alice, unlike Souma-kun, she was not a stamina monster. Even she was sure that Ryou-kun would have already collapsed by then. Despite his fiery energy, he was not a match for Souma-kun in terms of endurance. In fact, it was because of his extreme spirit that he tired out easily, and so, after forcing herself through the day with great difficulty, she was really looking forward to having a peaceful beauty sleep, especially after her roommate got expelled and she was granted absolute peace and quiet.

But she guessed that even that was too much to hope for. Just after she had brushed her teeth, changed into her pajama, and barely climbed on her bed, the bell rung. She groaned and walked to the door while pouting.

"Who is it?" She asked to the door. Who had the audacity to disturb her in that nightly hour.

"Room service."

"I think you got the wrong room. I didn't order any room service."

"Nope, I'm pretty sure I got the right room. It's the order for one Nakiri Alice."

Alice somehow recognized that voice although it was a bit muffled by the door. And so, she opened the door and was greeted by a smiling face of a red headed boy. Of course, she slammed the door back shut in his face.

"Hey! Alice-chan! Let me in!" Souma banged the door.

Alice sighed and opened the door again.

"I'm tired, okay. I want to get some sleep. Can you just leave for tonight?" She wasn't amused.

"But you didn't seem to care when I was in your position two nights ago." Souma pointed out faked a scandalized look.

Alice felt as if she was slapped. And she had no comeback.

"Okay, I get it. I'm sorry. Come in then." Alice surrendered quite easily.

Souma smirked and entered the room.

"But don't you dare fall asleep here. Or we'll both be in a huge trouble." She warned.

"I won't." He assured, but somehow, Alice wasn't convinced.

Souma looked around the room to find that it was just another double room identical to his. He sat on the vacant bed as Alice sat on her own bed.

"So where's your roommate?" Souma asked curiously.

"Expelled. At this morning's session."

"Ah, I see…"

"So anyway, what are you doing here? Just want to pay me back for that time?"

"Hmm… As silly as it sounds, I just have nothing better to do. Ryou is asleep. My friends from Polar Star are busy preparing for tomorrow. I'm just looking for a place to relax actually, but Ryou snores really loud when he's tired." Souma said casually.

"Haha, I know, right?"

And so they chatted casually. They told each other about mundane things, mostly their day in the training camp. When Souma told Alice of what happened with Shinomiya-senpai, Alice wasn't pleased. She claimed that it was too reckless of him, but in the end, she supposed that if it was Souma, he would have been able to pull it off.

But they didn't hang out for too long. When Souma noticed that Alice was already struggling to stay awake, he felt bad for her, and so, he excused himself and went back to his own room. Alice was thankful. She finally got her beauty sleep, although it was a bit later than she would have liked.

/

When Nakiri Erina found out that her assigned spot for the morning buffet challenge was right beside Yukihira's, she was a little unnerved, By no way was she discouraged or lose confidence in herself, but she thought that it would be far more challenging for her.

"Good morning, Nakiri-san." He greeted her politely. It seemed that he was actually quite well mannered.

"To you as well, Yukihira-san." Erina answered evenly, not wanting to be intimidated.

They didn't talk after that. But Erina subtly observed what Yukihira was doing. She eyed his preparations and found out what he's making. Hashbrown and Egg Casserole. A classic breakfast menu, but quite a bold choice since it has a long baking time, but knowing Yukihira of course he would pull it off. Not wanting to be outdone, Erina prepared her Eggs Benedict as well. They had roughly two to three hours before the first guest would arrive.

It wasn't hard to prepare some hundred servings of her dishes and she had some spare time left, and so, she laid back a bit while she waited. She looked sideways to see that Yukihira was… gone? His oven was on, but he was gone. How careless of him, to leave his cooking unsupervised. What if someone sabotaged it? She couldn't help but feel insulted, was Yukihira taking this too lightly? Then he would regret it. She would draw all the customers so that Yukihira will barely get any. Of course, she fully expected that he would recover and at least get that 200 servings, but she swore that she would get more servings.

Yukihira took his time. He was gone for almost half an hour before he returned, and when he did, he did so without a care, casually walking back and checked his oven as if he had never left. When he began to take his casserole out of the oven and started to cut them down and plate, Erina was already done perfectly aligning her servings of Eggs Benedict.

And of course, the door to the hall finally opened. Lots of guests swarmed inside the hall with a few Tootsuki staff disguised within. Due to her fame, many of the guests quickly flocked to her stall, wanting to taste the cooking of the God's Tongue. Fully capitalizing on her advantage, she was quite pleased to see that Yukihira's stall was untouched.

After about forty or fifty servings, Yukihira still had 0. The people were giving high praise of her Eggs Benedict and Erina was feeling really pleased. The people lining up for her dish began to grow in number and amassed into a mob of people. It was at that moment that Miyano Akari, a little girl with pigtails, was pushed over by two boys and found himself in front of Yukihira's stall.

"Hello there, ojou-chan. Would you care to try a bite?" Yukihira offered casually. He wasn't even worried.

"Umm…" The girl looked at Erina's overcrowded stall. "I guess I will give it a try then."

She took a portion of the Hashbrown and Egg Casserole and ate it, hoping it to be delicious.

"AMAZING!"

Involuntarily, she shouted out loud in surprise. Seeing that people started to stare at her, she quickly closed her mouth with her hand and apologized, but that little action started a chain reaction. People began to grow curious and some more people started to try Yukihira's dish.

"This… This is…"

"Wonderful. Just truly wonderful."

"Ah… How many years has it been since I had something this good?"

"I think that this might be better than the God Tongue's."

With more people, came more praise, and with more praise, came even more people. It was an exponential cycle. The longer it went on, the more rapid the increment of his customers got. Soon Erina felt despair as her stall became deserted.

"He… stole my customers?" She muttered quietly. It was unbelievable.

She got like… fifty servings in half an hour, and just in under twenty minutes, Yukihira passed the one hundred mark from zero. More people were lining up for his dish. Almost the entire hall practically crowded around them. at that rate… Erina would fail. No, that was unacceptable. She tried to invite more people to her stall by advertising vocally, but even then, the allure of Yukihira's dish was too great. Since the people gave him sky-high praises, the others became curious and thus hard to be convinced by Erina.

"Yukihira Souma, 200 servings complete!"

It was fast. He could easily be the first one. Yukihira Souma was going to fail the entire Hall A. Erina succumbed to despair. It was unfair.

"WHAT! THERE'S NO MORE?"

"NOOO! PLEASE COOK US MORE, YUKIHIRA-SAN!"

"It's a shame…"

Erina observed confusedly at the spectacle. Could it be?

"I'm apologize everyone, but I'm out of servings. Baking another fresh batch will take too long."

The crowd voiced its displease. Some groaned out loud, some sighed in disappointment, while some children even threw a tantrum before being calmed down by their parent or guardian.

"That being said, please take this opportunity to explore some of the other stalls. I believe that there are lots of other great dishes."

And so, the flow in Hall A became normal once again. After the crowd dispersed, Yukihira's stall was empty. Even the person… Yes, he was missing mysteriously again, but Erina didn't have time to think about Yukihira, as the mass came back, the demands for her dish came back full force, so she had her hands full. It wasn't long until she got herself 200 servings completed. When there was only 10 minutes left on the clock, she was nearing her 300th servings, but suddenly, she had two surprise guests.

"Erina!" Red eyes, white hair, sideway bang.

"Nakiri-san." Golden eyes, red hair, eyebrow scar.

"Alice… What are you doing here?"

"Oh, after completing 380 servings, I run out of eggs. So Sekimori-senpai let me go first." Alice answered goofily.

Erina sighed tiredly, she so didn't want to deal with her cousin at the moment.

"What about you Yukihira-san? Where have you been all this time?" 'and with Alice too…' although that went unsaid.

"Hmm? Me? I wandered the halls, trying out some food that seems interesting, by the time I got to Hall E, Alice-chan was finishing up, so we decided to visit you. I really want to try your Eggs Benedict anyway, it seems delicious." He replied casually yet again. Seriously, does nothing ever faze this man? But wait…

"Yukihira-san, if I may ask, since when were you on a first name basis with Alice?" Erina asked suspiciously. It was a question that she had been wanting to ask for a while, but she forgot to do it on the night of their card party, she was too caught up in the game.

"Ehhh, Erina you didn't know? He's like my besssst friend since years ago." Alice answered for him.

Yukihira shrugged, signifying that Alice was telling the truth, but while Erina was still thinking of a response, Alice continued.

"That aside, Erina, come on! Give us your Eggs Benedict!"

"Is that even allowed?" Erina asked.

"Don't worry. I asked Inui-senpai earlier. She said it was okay since she was running around sampling dishes herself.

Erina wanted to comment… but ultimately decided against it, so she relented and gave them two servings.

"Umm… Delicious! As expected of Erina."

"They're wonderful, Nakiri-san. I'm impressed."

Looking at Yukihira, Erina felt conflicted. His praise was sincere, and at the end, she got over 300 servings, however, she couldn't help but feel that she lost. If Yukihira had prepared more of his dish, she wouldn't have been able to serve that much, and the worst part was, she was aware that Yukihira was purposely holding back. In order to give the other students better chance, he prepared EXACTLY 200 servings. She was not blind. Erina could tell that he ran out as soon as his completion was announced. He was incredibly considerate for someone with great talent.

"Come on, Souma-kun! Where is it? You promised that you'd save one for me…"

"I didn't forget. Here you go, Alice-chan." He took another serving from below his kitchen counter.

Well… he made EXACTLY 201 servings, and the last one didn't really count.

/

 **A/N: Something fun will happen at the start of the next chapter. I'm looking forward to it.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I took a break from writing during the holiday. Now, I'm back. I promise that if I ever decide to abandon this, I will at least notify. I hope it won't ever come to that.**

 *** An Explanation: If you noticed, sometimes I refer to people alternatingly using their surname and first name. This is not random. I try to use the appropriate addressment based on whose POV it was, and when it was a general POV, I just use the first name. I hope this can clarify things and make it less confusing.**

Chapter 5

Souma MAY or MAY NOT had a certain Karaage business go bankrupt because he was helping somebody he just happened to know from the shopping district where Yukihira was located, however, he never would've dreamed that he would be faced with that predicament because of that. Inside a large office with grandly styled interior, Souma was brought face to face with none other than the ninth seat of the elite ten of Totsuki.

"You think that just because you won a lot of shokugekis against those weaklings, you're really something, huh? Let me tell you the truth, you won't even survive in the autumn election! Join me, Yukihira Souma. I shall make sure that you never starve and flourish as a part of my empire!" Eizan Etsuya declared forcefully.

It was troublesome. But Souma was also thinking hard to make the best of the situation. Obviously, he couldn't accept that offer, but at the same time, he couldn't outright oppose it either, lest he make a powerful enemy he is better off not opposing. After brief consideration, Souma decided that it might be best to remove the threat altogether. It also helped that he was also looking forward to the challenge that his reply would surely bring.

"I'm afraid I have to humbly decline your offer, Eizan-senpai." He started off.

Eizan started to look offended, but Souma continued.

"However, let us have a match, Eizan-senpai. If you win, then I will serve under you faithfully for as long as you see fit, even if it is my entire life." Souma bravely proclaimed.

"Hah? Are you really that conceited to think that you can take me on?" Eizan glared ruthlessly as if he was looking at trash.

"Of course not, Eizan-senpai. Not the way I am right now. However, you said that I won't even last the autumn election, right?"

"And what about it?"

"Then, even if I make it to the final and lose, I will consider this match your victory."

Etsuya's eye sparkled for a moment, was that a free lunch? There's no such thing as a free lunch after all, if the Greek saying was to be believed. He narrowed his eyes with suspicion, if Yukihira's demands were unreasonable, he would just object bluntly.

"However, if I do win in the autumn election as the champion… that would mean that I'm not as pitiful as you thought, wouldn't it? In that case, have a shokugeki with me, Eizan-senpai, bargaining your elite ten seat for my lifetime servitude, how about that, senpai? If things go according to your prediction, you will easily get what you want without giving any extra effort, and even if it comes to worst, you can crush me by your own hand, isn't that a very profitable deal for you?" Souma baited Eizan's pride. He knew that his prideful senpai would certainly take the bait.

Etsuya was annoyed, if he looked at the deal objectively, he wouldn't be able to complain. It was extremely favorable for his side, not only his chances of winning were really big, but he also had a double chance where on the second, he had near absolute chance of winning. However, what made him annoyed was Yukihira's audacity to boldly give himself that much of a disadvantage, as if he was mocking Etsuya. 'Fine then, I will play your game, Yukihira, and make you suffer a humiliating defeat under your own rule.' He thought devilishly.

"Alright, I acknowledge your deal." Eizan looked at Souma coldly, but Souma just smirked casually.

"I hope you won't go back on your own words, senpai." Souma remarked jokingly.

"Oh, I won't. It's you whom I'm concerned about. Because of that, you won't mind signing a formal document containing our terms, will you? In fact, I can arrange for it to be prepared in mere minutes. It's only to prevent a… breach of contract." Eizan returned Souma's smirk with one of his own, amped up with malice of course.

"Of course, senpai. That would be no problem."

And so, Etsuya called one of his men to print the document and prepare a pen and his seal immediately. As he predicted, it didn't take long as his men were very reliable. Etsuya signed his own signature on the paper, and another on an identical copy of the agreement. Then, he turned them to Yukihira along with the pen. He told Yukihira to keep the other copy to validate the agreement. Eizan did it professionally as if he would with a business contract. As he observed Yukihira signing casually, he inwardly laughed at the foolishness of the red haired boy.

'You have just sealed your own fate, Yukihira, with that document, there's no way for you to run away. I will soon wipe that annoying smirk off your face, but don't you worry, I won't go back on my words, I will let you prosper under me. In the future, you will be grateful to me for giving you a chance to be a part of my glorious empire. Just wait, Yukihira.' Without needing to be said, Etsuya didn't give off any signs of his inner thoughts outwardly.

/

Awkward. It was really awkward. Souma sat stiffly on the supposedly comfortable VIP-class seat on the luxurious plane belonging to an upper-class airway. Despite that, what he felt was the farthest thing from comfortable. That might be exaggerating as there are lots of thinkable situations that would be even more uncomfortable, but Souma honestly thought that way at that moment.

On a row of three seats on the left side of the plane, he sat right in the middle seat. On his right, a certain genius food-scientist was resting her head against his shoulder, fast asleep and almost drooling. If it was only that, it would be nothing that unusual for Souma, but the presence of a certain blond with excessively blessed tongue on his immediate left was the main factor that contributed to his discomfort. Said girl was looking through the window on her left with her head propped up by her arm, but the aura she excluded was quite eerie.

If it was just Nakiri Erina sitting beside him, Souma would have been able to deal with that. Since she was… forced to go along with them through a shokugeki, he understood that she would be a bit moody about it, but of course, Alice made the whole situation more complicated than necessary. Because of some reasons, Erina disliked the fact that Alice was so close to Souma, especially since Alice didn't really mind skinship in spite of their gender difference. Thus, Souma was brought to the difficult choice of waking Alice up and face her wrath, or endure Erina's unpleasant aura until Alice wakes on her own, which wouldn't be anytime soon.

If he was asked to guess the reason of Erina disliking the closeness of Alice and himself, he would have guessed protectiveness. The cousins often bicker with Erina being overly tsun and Alice being overly boke, sometimes with someone, usually Hisako, being the tsukkomi, but even then, Souma still could feel a bond between them. Inwardly, he found it adorable to see Erina caring for Alice, but that was all just speculation of course, albeit a very convincing one.

In the end, Souma decided to endure it, waking Alice would just be more troublesome. The probability was high for her to begin ranting, making a racket, and put the attention of the other passengers to them. Souma also chose to let her sleep peacefully out of fondness. Alice was, for a lack of better wording, his best friend.

Souma spent his youth learning how to cook from his father. He got his elementary degree from homeschooling and often tagged along with his father to explore the world. He rarely stayed in one place for long, so he couldn't have made that many friends. It was a chance encounter that met him with Alice and Ryou. He and his father were passing by Denmark, and his dad decided to pay a visit to his acquaintance, Nakiri Soe, who happened to be in there at the moment. Since he was bored, Souma asked for permission to experiment in one of the kitchens. It somehow led to a three-way cooking battle with a witty girl and a fishy boy, with them somehow forming a friendship afterwards. It wasn't until later in his junior high years when his father told Souma that he actually planned to stay just for a week, but seeing that his interactions with the two were productive to their growth, he deliberately prolonged their stay.

In his junior high years, he mostly stayed at Yukihira and worked there when he was not studying at school. He had friends from school of course, but he also kept in touch with his Danish friends through letters, and later, phone calls. Since Ryou was a man of few words, he mostly got lengthy letters from Alice, but Ryou would sometimes express a few sentences through Alice's letter. Considering all those facts, it couldn't be helped that he and Alice were close, right? Yet, how was he supposed to explain all of that to Nakiri Erina? He couldn't of course, he chose a safer path and started a small conversation, hoping that it would lessen the tension between them.

"Fine weather we're having, isn't it, Nakiri-san?" Souma started with the most absurdly overused and phenomenally mundane sentence to start small talk. Who can blame him though? It was already formidable to talk casually with the God's Tongue, moreover, they're inside a flying airplane, so the state of the weather actually held more importance as it was related to their safety, adding to those facts, the sky was also extremely bright with fluffy clouds under them, making Souma's careful observation of the weather even more justifiable and credible.

.

.

.

Who was he kidding? He said that because he didn't know what else to say, didn't he? How shameful…

"… Huh? Ah… Yes… Indeed, it is." Erina responded late. She was clearly distracted by something.

"Is something bothering you, Nakiri-san? Can I be of help?" Souma asked kindly.

"… It's nothing."

Of course, she's not an open person to begin with.

"Is something wrong Erina-sama? What can I do to help?" A frantic voice suddenly came from behind and fussed over Erina.

"Like I said, it's nothing. You don't need to be concerned, Hisako." She was exasperated. Although Erina found it enjoyable to be pampered by Hisako, but sometimes, her secretary induced a severe headache with that excess fussing.

Souma casually looked behind him. On the row of seats behind them, Arato Hisako sat behind Erina on the leftmost seat. On the rightmost seat, Ryou was fast asleep, following his mistress' example, although he was fortunately leaning back on the chair, not resting his head on somebody else's shoulder. On the middle seat, Tadokoro Megumi sat awkwardly, as if she was bewildered to be somehow put in that situation, although the gap between the VIP seats were spacious, Tadokoro looked like she was suffocating, sandwiched between an overprotective herbalist and a slumbering sea dragon. It was a long story on how Tadokoro ended up going with them, but the moment when Souma's eyes met Tadokoro's, an empathy link was created. Understanding their shared pain, they silently sent their encouragement to each other. For the rest of the trip, they were comrades.

The previous day /

Megumi was packing for a week-long trip. Originally, she was planning to prepare for the autumn election, but she wanted to go back home for awhile, and return to Totsuki to prepare some more for the rest of her summer vacation. She never thought that she would be faced with an abrupt change of plans. Squished into last week of the summer vacation until just before the autumn election started, the sudden trip was something that she couldn't perceive at first.

Not knowing what to prepare for, naturally Megumi asked Ryouko and Yuuki for advice. If she had known how much teasing she would get from that, she might have reconsidered.

"Nee, nee, Megumi-chi. Come on, tell us how you got Kurokiba-san to invite you."

"Did you perhaps… seduce him? Kya! You're so bold, Megumi-chan."

"Not really… Ryou-kun just asked me normally… And it's not like it would be just the two of us… Yukihira-kun is going too, you know…"

"Ara, since when has it become Ryou-kun instead of Kurokiba-kun?"

"As expected of Megumi-chi. You totally passed the first name basis like it was nothing."

"With your relations being that close, I bet he asked you like this… … …"

"Ohhh, it could also go like… … …"

Megumi didn't know what to say, at that moment, both of her female friends from polar star started about romantic scenarios where Ryou says some cheesy lines like "Megumi… Let us go together, to a world only for the two of us…" or "Come, my love. Let us go on a journey…" while discussing the aftermath of those scenarios, all of them were virtually impossible to happen in the real world. The longer they went on, the more absurd their imagination became, but the truth was… it was actually very anticlimactic.

They were once again paired in French Cuisine class. During that time, Ryou simply asked her whether she already had plans for the last week of her summer vacation. Megumi was flustered, but she thought that perhaps Ryou would only ask her to assist him in some matters or something along those lines, so she told him that she would be free. However, he dropped a bomb on Megumi.

"In that case… Come with me on a week-long trip. Ah, the ojou and Souma will come too."

Naturally, she didn't accept immediately. When she inquired about their destination, Ryou only said that he also didn't know yet and that it would be fine even if she didn't bring anything. At first, she was a bit hesitant, but she was also excited to go on a vacation trip. Moreover, Yukihira was someone she was friendly with, and she also got along well with Alice, so she didn't see any reason to decline. Additionally, she was also the type of person that can't refuse anything asked of her. In other words, she was what people call… a pushover… Sad… but it's the truth.

When it comes to Ryou, Megumi would admit that she had a crush on him. She couldn't deny that he was incredibly HO-*ehem*-interesting when he's cooking, especially when he's wearing that bandana. His muscular form is also eye-catching, not that Megumi paid that much attention to Ryou of course, however, it was just a tiny silly crush that's totally unrequited. There's no way that Ryou would pay attention to someone like her, right? Her chances were too miniscule for her to dare to hope, so she was content with the way things were.

And so, listening to her friends' increasingly crazy concocted fantasies, she could only laugh along. After all, they were just those… fantasies.

/

"Woahhh… This is amazing." Souma was awed.

"Fufufu… It is, isn't it." Alice was not surprised though.

After landing at the public airport in Nassau, Bahamas, they were immediately welcomed by Nakiri employees and were taken to a remote site where a transport chopper belonging to the Nakiri family was already prepared. After that, they were taken to a private island somewhere in the Caribbean Sea that, of course, also belonged to the Nakiri family. The sight that greeted Souma was a vacation villa that could be compared evenly with the Nakiri mansion, as expected of the Nakiri family… Alice didn't hold back on planning the trip it seemed.

"Hmm… I didn't know that we own an island here." Erina commented nonchalantly, as if owning an island or two is not a big deal.

"I know right, me too. Actually, when I told ojii-sama about the trip, he immediately suggested we use this island." Alice seemed really excited, but Erina still retained most of her previous gloom from the plane trip, as a result, she only answered Alice with a bored "Oh, is that so?"

Souma thought that the director was really generous, but after Souma thought about it, perhaps he was just happy because his granddaughters were getting along and decided to lend a hand to improve their relationship. Either way, the place was really awesome. In fact, 'awesome' is too modest of a word to describe the vacation villa.

The size was enormous. It was also decorated excessively with decorations such as paintings from famous artists, sculptures, and other ornaments. There were also a lot of bedrooms, each one very spacious and complimented with a king size bed. Not to mention, it also had a fitness room, a game room, a home theater, a library, and of course, a huge and fully equipped kitchen. Although the island is usually vacant save for the security staff, prior to their arrival, the housekeeping staff had cleaned up and prepared for their arrival.

Later, Souma would find out that Alice had specifically requested no kitchen staff. Well, it's not a big deal actually. All of them were Autumn Election contestants anyway. It would be great if they can practice and receive feedbacks prior to the election, or at least, that's what Souma thought.

Since they had eaten dinner during the plane trip and it was already very late, they readily agreed to call it a day. Since there was an abundance of guest rooms, each of them was given a room.

/

"So, who's going to cook breakfast?"

"…"

The next morning, they gathered in the living room and finally realized about the lack of kitchen staff.

"Eto… I don't mind doing it… but I wonder if it's okay…" Megumi muttered while glancing nervously at Erina occasionally.

Hmm… It seemed that Tadokoro had not fully got rid of her self-doubt yet, but she certainly had improved. Souma remembered that Erina didn't seem to have any problem with Tadokoro's cooking during their nightly makeshift party, so there should be no problem. That's why, it was no surprise that the others easily agreed with no objection.

As expected, Tadokoro's cooking just had a certain warmth. It was something that Souma couldn't replicate, a distinct characteristic that belonged to Tadokoro alone. Recently, he noticed that her cooking felt a bit bolder. She was a bit more open with using strong flavored ingredients to rather than her usual light flavored preference. It was Ryou's influence, no doubt about it, but it wasn't a bad thing though.

The breakfast that morning was western. It was a simple bagel sandwich. Two buns of bagels with a sunny side up egg, bacon, some lettuce, leek, and chives. Overall, it was a simple balanced dish. The amount of bacon per serving was modest and the supplementary vegetables also made the bagel felt lighter, as a result, it didn't become too heavy for a breakfast dish, but quite fulfilling at the same time.

"Mmmm... As expected of Megumi-chan! Ne, ne, Erina… How do you find Megumi-chan's cooking?"

Souma noticed that Alice seemed to get along well with Tadokoro. She was advancing fast, easily breaking into the first name basis. Erina on the other hand was more reserved, as always.

"Well… Tadokoro-san's cooking is adequate I suppose…" She commented simply.

Megumi blushed a little and muttered her thanks. Coming from the esteemed food critic, it was an honor to receive even that degree of compliment.

While Souma, Ryou, and even Alice were content with using a wrapping paper and bite the sandwich right away, Erina elegantly used a knife and a fork to cut the bagel flawlessly bit by bit and took a little bite at a time. Souma noticed that Arato was also using the utensils. However, she didn't have the same grace as Erina. Although she seemed to have a little difficulty, she was determined to follow her mistress' example it seemed. She got the hang of it quite fast though.

/

And so, it was a full week of relaxation. They basically did nothing but procrastinate all day, other than the alternated cooking duty, they occasionally went to the beach to play. While Souma and Ryou were quick to set up a net for a volleyball game, Erina preferred to sunbathe on the side. She even refused the invitation to swim, although Arato also chose to accompany Erina on the side while shooting subtle longing glance to the other four playing in the waves, after Erina assured her that it was okay, Arato also joined them and left Erina alone with her peace and quiet. Of course, it didn't last long. Eventually, Alice would forcefully drag Erina into the water as well, forcing upon her the pain of washing her hair which was sticky because of saltwater afterwards.

Overall it was fun though. It was amazing how only a week of frequent interactions can greatly affect their relationships. Their group had become somewhat closer. Even though Erina was always very reserved and bickered all the time with Alice, Souma could tell that she also somewhat enjoyed the trip.

Without realizing it, it was already their last day there. They would spend another night and return home early the next morning, giving them a whole day to rest before the autumn election started directly on the day after that. On that last day, Souma was fully planning to take it easy and relax. However, Alice apparently had another idea…

"Let's have a battle royale!"

And so, somehow, their dinner turned into a 3 vs 3 battle between Erina, Megumi, and Alice versus Hisako, Ryou, and Souma. Since there were no official judges and they had to judge each other's dishes, it was quite hard to decide the winner. Miraculously, all of them thought that the opposing dishes were better. In the end, they decided to call it a draw. Personally, Souma thought that Erina was amazing. Truly, she was a worthy holder of the elite ten seat. Little did he know that Erina also thought likewise towards him.

/

That night, Souma couldn't sleep, or rather, he didn't want to sleep yet. Since it was the last day there, Souma decided to take a walk across the seashore. He put on a pair of slippers and quietly exited his room. The corridor was dimly lit and desolate, he crept silently to the entrance of the mansion to avoid waking the others.

Surprisingly, he met someone on his way out. On the balcony outside the main gate, sitting on the bench, her silver hair gleamed in the moonlight as Souma approached her from behind.

"Can't sleep?" Souma asked.

"Hmm…" She replied nonchalantly.

She seemed to be relaxing while staring at the sea from afar. Souma took a few seconds to stand beside her and stared at the black ocean as well.

"Care to take a walk along the seashore?" Souma suggested.

"… Sure, why not." She answered after a short delay.

And so, Souma began to leisurely walk towards the beach. Alice rose from the bench and started to trail beside him. They walked slowly, enjoying the walk itself rather than simply transporting themselves. They didn't talk until they arrived at the beach. Both of them enjoyed a comfortable silence.

It was a tranquil experience… Somehow, the sound of crashing waves and rising tide was calming. After walking for a while, they found a large coral on their way. Deciding to rest for a bit, Souma dusted the sands on the rock and sat on the left side of the rock, making space for Alice beside him.

"The day after tomorrow is the autumn election, huh?" Souma broke the silence at last.

"Yeah…"

"If we face off later, I won't go easy on you, you know?"

"Hmm…"

Souma noticed that Alice seemed… a little distracted. She looked as if she was in a deep thought, contemplating about a difficult matter. Thus, Souma chose to keep silent and let her think in silence. It took perhaps 5 minutes before Alice broke the silence again.

"Ne, Souma-kun…"

"Hmm?"

She seemed to fidget a bit and a bit hesitant. It was quite out of character from her usual confident and brash personality.

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

"…"

Souma didn't reply immediately. It wasn't because he couldn't answer or didn't know the answer to that question. It was because he was a bit surprised at the suddenness of the question.

"What brought this on?" Souma asked back.

"I just… want to know…"

"You should already know the answer to that, right? After all, people talk about the beauty and ingenuity of the Nakiri cousins all the time."

"I don't care about what people think of me… I want to know how Souma-kun thinks of me…"

She looked at him with that adorable red iris of her, making him falter.

"I do think you're pretty…" Souma admitted.

"Hmm… Really?" Alice kept staring at him. At that point she started to smile softly.

Souma maintained their eye contact, but with every second, his heart started to thump a bit faster. It was subtle and not at all very sudden. Slowly, their distance neared while keeping their gaze at each other. Going by his instinct, Souma finally took the initiative and closed the gap tenderly and their lips met. It was chaste and didn't even last very long. Souma quickly drew back not too long after. However, it was also very sweet. It was really mellow and somehow felt really innocent.

"Ne, Alice… Wanna try dating?"

"Hmm… Sure, why not?"

She answered just like when he asked her to walk with him on the beach. Souma smiled and felt amused at how trivial it all seemed. They kept their composure and made it felt really casual, but at the same time, it didn't feel any less special. They kept sitting there for quite some time in silence. Somewhere along the way, their hands were already entwined before Souma noticed it.

It didn't happen suddenly. There wasn't any particular moment where Souma suddenly realized he had fallen for Alice or something like that. Instead, it was a slow and gradual process. Two close friends who were already familiar with each other, drawn to each other because of the time and amount of contact they had with each other. They were trying it out, of course, they had no guarantee that it will work out. However, they were willing to try and just hope for the best.


End file.
